


Jealous Bird

by Foxdemonsrock



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Justice League
Genre: Action, Angst, Bat Family, Dick!whump, Drama, Drunkenness, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Jealousy, Kidnapping, Possessive Behavior, Possessive behavior over Dick, There is so much happening in this story I don't even know, Whump, bat boys fighting over Dick, daddy!Bats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-06
Packaged: 2017-11-23 17:58:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 46,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxdemonsrock/pseuds/Foxdemonsrock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damian craves Dick's attention. He has it most of the time; that is, until Tim comes along and ruins that plan. Throw in Jason, and it's a battle of the birds for the Bat's attention. Dick remains oblivious, of course. (Takes place when Bruce is running Batman Inc, and Dick is Batman) MOVED FROM FF.NET</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Red vs. Robin part 1

The youngest member of the Wayne family storms through the halls, looking for his target. This person: the eldest of Bruce Wayne's son's. Dick Grayson. The temperamental teen hears the familiar, mirthful, laugh reverberating through the large hallways. The source of said laugh was in the kitchen, no doubt attempting to cook something while their loyal butler supervised to make sure that he didn't destroy anything. The thirteen-year-old bursts into the kitchen, scowling at his older brother, who was flailing like a fool as Alfred tried to put out the apron the acrobat had set on fire.

"Tt. You'll never learn, Grayson." Said person pouts, glancing into the doorway at the dubbed 'Little Demon'.

"Hey, it wasn't even my fault! I just looked away for a second!"

"And proceeded to catch yourself on fire, Master Dick." Alfred states, taking Dick's charred, discarded, apron off of the pristine floor. Damian rolls his eyes, crossing his arms.

"If you're quite done here; come spar with me." Damian orders, leaving no room for argument. The acrobat sighs, looking over at the mess mournfully.

"Sorry…I can't Dami. Timmy's coming over for dinner. I was trying to cook for us, but I failed miserably." The young bird's eyes narrow dangerously.

"Clearly. When is Drake supposed to come over?" Dick shrugs nonchalantly, walking over to the phone.

"In about an hour. I guess I'll just order pizza then." He sighs again, starting to dial the number of his favorite pizzeria as Damian quietly sneaks off, plotting his revenge on the other bird.

* * *

Dick frowns, looking over at the clock. Tim should have been at the manor fifteen minutes ago, and he wasn't one to be late. The phone in his pocket rings, causing him to jump, quickly pulling it out.

"Hello? Tim? Where the hell are you?" The voice on the other line sighs exhaustedly.

"My apartment burnt down."

"….What? How did that  _happen_?"

"I have no idea. I came back from patrol, and the whole place was ablaze! The cops said that I left the stove on. The strange thing is, I know I didn't." Dick frowns, rubbing his temples thoughtfully.

"You think someone figured out your secret ID?"

"Not likely…ugh. Now I have to look for a new place…"

"Nonsense! Why don't you come stay with us? There's plenty of room, and you're always welcome here!"

"I don't know, Dick…Damian hates me…and Bruce-"

"I expect you here in two hours tops. We'll go shopping tomorrow to restock all of the things you lost today. And hurry up. The pizza's getting cold." Dick hangs up, grinning to himself as he spins towards the butler, who was standing close by.

"I take it Master Tim is going to be returning home?"

"Yup!"

"I'll get his room ready then." Alfred walks off as Dick beams, happy to have his younger brother back in the manor. It got lonely with just him, Alfred and Damian since Bruce was always off in different countries getting Batman Inc set up.

"I'm going to need more food." He smirks mischievously. "And alcohol. Yes. Lots of alcohol. " The first Robin flips his phone out again. "Hey, Kon. It's me. I need a favor."

* * *

Damian seethes in the corner, eavesdropping in the shadows. Damn Grayson and his overbearing hospitality. He would have to come up with another plan to get Drake out of the way. Tonight was going to be a very eventful night.

* * *

Tim arrives with a small duffle bag in hand full of the few items that he could salvage. Dick flings the door open before Alfred could answer the doorbell. He envelops his younger brother in a warm hug, ruffling his hair playfully. "Welcome home, Timmy!"

"It's just until I can back on my feet." Tim mumbles, looking away.

"You can stay for as long as you like."

"No, he can't." Damian states from behind the eldest bird. Dick rolls his eyes.

"He's just grumpy. Come on, Timmy. I bet you're starving." He drapes his arm around the hacker's shoulders, leading him into the kitchen as the disgruntled bird trailed behind. Tim's eyes widen at the sheer amount of food that littered the kitchen. Pizza, cake, Chinese take-out, cookies, chips, and beer was scattered along the countertops, much to Alfred's dismay. "Welcome home!"

"Dick…you didn't have to do all of this…"

"Actually, he did. Unless you forgot who you're dealing with." Conner states as he walks into the room. Tim stares at him in shock, blushing lightly.

"He roped you into this too?"

"Yes…it  _is_  Dick after all. He  _always_  gets what he wants one way or another." Dick pouts, crossing his arms.

"You make me sound like a manipulative bastard!"

"No. That would be the Little Demon." Tim states, smirking at Damian, who's glare darkens.

"It's time to celebrate, not to fight! Come on! Let's eat! And I have lots of games for us to play~! Grab a plate and let's head to the living room!" Tim glances to Alfred in apology, seeing the elderly butler visibly cringe at the thought of a pizza sauce stain on the priceless carpet.

* * *

Conner stares at the game board in horror. Damian had chosen Risk for them to play from the mountain of games Dick had put together. It had been  _three_  hours and it was a war zone. Dick surrendered two hours ago, having decided to drink instead as Tim and the youngest bird decided to duke it out. There was shouting, game pieces being thrown, and ultimately wound up an all out brawl. Damian had lunged at Tim for taking over his last stronghold in Africa. Dick had tried to stop them, but drunkenly tripped over the board and wound up with his face planted in Damian's lap. The ex-assassin had turned crimson, before roughly shoving his older brother off. He then proceeded to disappear into the shadows of the room lit by the fire they had started in the fireplace earlier. The clone sighs heavily, running a hand over his face, hearing Damian grumbling something under his breath about getting revenge on Tim later.

"All this over a board game…" Conner states quietly, seeing his best friend trying to haul his drunk brother up off the floor.

"On the contrary…they were fighting over Master Dick's attention." The Kryptonian clone raises an eyebrow, looking up at the butler, who was glancing at his charges fondly.

"How do you figure that? They were arguing over countries…"

"Ah, but you didn't notice the fact that Master Dick showed more attention to the one who was currently winning…" Conner snorts, looking back at Tim, who had finally gotten Dick off the floor and was now trying to lug him off to his room. Dick pouts, resting his head on his younger brother's shoulder.

"Why don't Bruce wuv me? Dami hates me. Jason hates me. Kori hates me. Barbara hates me….You've always been tha favorite." Dick slurs sadly. "No one wuvs me."

"Don't say that, Dick…everyone loves you! You're a great older brother…" Tim tries to reassure him, at a loss. Dick stumbles away from him and turns to face him, looking him in the eyes seriously.

"Do you love me?" Tim blushes, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Y-Yes?" Dick beams, nearly pouncing on his younger brother, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug.

"I love you too! No one ever accepts meh love!" Tim looks away uncomfortably, and stumbles, trying to gravitate towards the stairs. Conner smirks, seeing Tim throw him a pleading glance as he tries to pry the drunken bird off of him.

"He gets really affectionate when he's drunk." Conner snickers. The butler nods in agreement.

"Now, I believe I have a mess to clean up. I suggest locking Master Dick in his room for the evening." The clone nods in acknowledgment, walking towards his best friend. He takes hold of the twenty-five-year-old, and hauls him over his shoulder.

"Time for bed, Dick." The older bird frowns, squirming in the clone's hold.

"But things were just about to get fun~! You're such a party pooper, Supey!" Conner chuckles, carrying the acrobat up the stairs effortlessly as he continues to complain.

"Welcome home, Master Tim." Alfred sets a hand on the exhausted bird's shoulder before heading into the living room to clean up the mess. Tim nods absently, slowly walking up the stairs. Who knew what tomorrow would bring.


	2. Red vs Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian vs Tim round two :P

The morning came too early for the newest Bat. He rolls over, groaning at the pounding in his head. The door creaks open, causing the acrobat to look up, hissing at the onslaught of light.

"Good morning, Master Dick. It's half past ten already. You can't sleep the day away. And I fear that Masters Tim and Damian will get into get another fight." The elderly butler states, opening up the curtains. Dick groans again, hiding under the covers to try to hide from the sunlight.

"Just give me one more hour, Alfie. Please? Dami and Timmy will last that long."

"I fear that is not possible, Master Dick. They have already destroyed some of Master Bruce's fine china."

"Ugh. Fine." The twenty-five-year-old throws the covers off, massaging his aching head. He blinks as a white gloved hand flashes in front of his face, holding three small pills which he recognized as pain killers. Dick beams, taking the offered medication followed by a glass of water that the butler had ready. "Thanks, Alfred. You're a life saver!" The loyal butler nods, and starts heading for the door.

"Your breakfast is waiting for you in the kitchen. As are the young Masters." With that, he shuts the door with a quiet click. Dick sighs heavily, and slips out of bed, stretching his arms towards the ceiling. With Damian and Tim under the same roof, it was bound to be a long day. He quickly gets dressed and heads down the stairs to meet up with his younger brothers. They were exactly where Alfred had said they would be. In the kitchen, arguing about orange juice of all things. Before Damian could throw the orange juice bottle at his older brother, Dick decides to step in.

"Stop! It's just orange juice. Jeez." The Bat sighs exhaustedly, slipping into his seat between the feuding pair.

"The Little Demon disapproves of  _everything_! He refused to eat anything because it wasn't 'up to his standards'!" Tim rages, leaning around Dick to further yell at his younger brother. "You're not a damn Prince! Get. Over. It!" Damian glares murderously, his hand twitching towards his pocket for the knife he always carried on him.

"You-"

"Both of you. Enough. My head is killing me and I can't stand the yelling." Dick cuts off the youngest bird. "Damian. Eat. Tim. Finish up so we can go shopping." He rubs his temples, trying to massage away the building irritation. Damian huffs, starting to eat as Tim follows suit.  _Ah. Peace and quiet at last_. Dick thinks, smirking to himself.

* * *

"Just shut UP, Damian! No one  _asked_  you!" Tim hollers, glaring down at the youngest bird as the other customers in the store start to stare. " _Why_  are you even here? Dick was going shopping with  _me_!" Damian crosses his arms, glaring right back.

"Tt. Grayson invited me." The two brothers look over to Dick expectantly, who was busy scouring the clothing rack, looking for something for Tim. He tenses, sensing that he was being stared at, and slowly turns around to face the two dark auras.

"Did I miss something?" He scratches the back of his head, laughing nervously as the auras grow darker and the two birds start to scowl. "I thought it would be a good bonding experience! I didn't want Damian to stay home alone all day."

"Because you didn't want him to destroy anything." Tim finishes, nodding in approval. Damian hisses, shoving the third Robin into one of the clothing racks.

"Tim!" Dick rushes over to help Tim out of the rack. "I'm so sorry!" The two manage to struggle out of the clothing jungle just in time to see one of the security guards staring down at them disapprovingly. The twenty-five-year-old smiles sheepishly, hanging up one of the discarded shirts apologetically. "Sorry about that…it won't happen again."

"You're just lucky you're Wayne's kids." The disgruntled middle-aged man grumbles, stalking off. Dick spins back on his two brothers, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"I want no more arguing for the next hour. Otherwise, I'm making you two  _share_  a room tonight."

"You can't do that!" The two birds shout in unison.

"I'm sure Alfred would agree with me. Unless you want me to call Bruce…" The two pale as Dick smirks deviously. "That's what I thought. Now…" He holds up a shirt, beaming brightly. "Try this one on, Timmy! I think it's perfect since you're dating Conner!" Red Robin turns crimson, noting the Superman logo on the black t-shirt.

"W-We're not d-dating!" Tim snatches the shirt away from his older brother as Dick chuckles heartily.

" _Sure_  you're not."

"Dick-" The hacker starts, but Dick was already walking off, waving his hand dismissively.

"We've successfully killed three hours in  _one_  store, and now I'm hungry. Let's wrap this up and go to lunch." Tim deflates, sighing heavily as Damian snickers darkly, following after their older brother.

* * *

Dick runs a hand over his face in humiliation as Tim jumps up, nearly knocking the table over, and proceeds to scream at Damian for spilling hot tea in his lap.

"Tt. Calm down, Drake. My hand slipped." The youngest bird defends, leaning back in his chair.

"Like hell! You  _poured_  it into my lap!"

"And now, apparently your vision is failing, Drake. Why don't you go get yourself cleaned up before someone concludes that you have poor bladder control." Damian smirks triumphantly as Tim's hand twitches towards the butter knife on the table. Hey, it was better than nothing.

"Enough, you two. Tim, come on. Let's get you all cleaned up." Dick states, finally losing patience with the bickering. He rests a hand on his younger brother's shoulder, leading him off to the bathroom as Damian stares after them furiously. Tim: 2; Damian: 0. The ex-assassin glowers at his half empty plate, trying to devise another plan to get rid of Drake. He was losing, and that simply was not acceptable.

* * *

Tim leans against the sinks in his boxers as Dick holds the Robin's pants under the hand dryer. "Maybe I should just stay in a hotel or something." He mutters to the newest Bat. Dick frowns, glancing back at him.

"Don't leave. Please? I know Damian can be…difficult…at times, but he really is a good kid."

"Leave it to  _you_  to see the good in that monster."

"He's a good partner." Dick shrugs, tossing the now dry pants back to his younger brother. "And you have to consider how he was raised. Face it. If Talia raised any of  _us_ , we probably wouldn't be in any better shape." Tim scoffs, starting to puts his now stain-free pants back on.

"I doubt  _anyone_  could taint  _you_." Dick rolls his eyes.

"You have far too much faith in me."

"Apparently you don't have enough faith in yourself." The Bat blinks before grinning, and pulling the bird into a tight hug.

"I missed you! Somehow, you always find a way to cheer me up!" Tim smiles softly, playfully trying to push his brother away.

"Yeah, yeah. It's hard to be happy when you live with a Little Demon." Dick pouts, taking a step away from the bird.

"What have I told you about trying to be nice?"

"….Easier said than done."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys get impatient, I have through chapter 30 on my FF. same username as this account. I know...such a LONG way to go!


	3. One Bird too Many

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another bird appears! *cue dramatic music*

Patrol was supposed to be a time where all was peaceful as they captured the villains of Gotham. The birds of the night, however, had a different plan.

"You were with Batman for the last two hours! It's my turn!" Red Robin hisses, glaring down at the other Robin furiously.

"It's just a stake out, Swan Queen. You've been on your own for months. I am his Robin now. Get over it." Robin crosses his arms, staring up at the older bird challengingly.

"Swan Queen? Where the hell did you get that from?"

"Your new costume. It looks as if you just got out of a ballet. A low-budget one at that." Robin jeers, snickering at the rage that flashes across his brother's face. Batman soars onto the roof to join the duo, landing in a handstand, grinning brightly.

"Batman! Let's head to the docks to patrol and let Robin finish up here. He's more than capable of handling this area by himself." Tim states, taking a step towards the oldest brother, inconspicuously blocking Dick from Damian's view. The Bat springs up, flipping back to his feet and eyes the two carefully.

"Um…sure? It's quiet tonight, anyway." Before the young bird could protest, Batman tenses, his eyes widening in horror as he feels a firm hand roughly squeeze his behind. The Robin's instantly hiss at the newest intruder, who simply chuckles as Dick quickly attempts to sweep the feet out from under him. Batman blinks as Red Hood jumps back, avoiding his kick. "Jay? What the hell?" Jason snickers, his eyes fixated on the birds who looked ready to maul him for having the audacity to grab the sacred ass.

"What, a guy can't have a little fun?" The ex-Robin steps needlessly close to the Bat as Dick continues to stare at him like a kicked puppy.

"You can't just go around grabbing people's asses! It's rude!"

"I only grab yours."

"Shouldn't you be in Arkham?" Red Robin snaps, pulling out a birarang. Jason shrugs nonchalantly, draping an arm around the Bat's shoulders casually as the birds visibly bristle at the contact. "Don't touch him!"

"And why not? We're all brothers here…" Dick looks up at him, hope glittering under the white lenses.

"Does this mean you're coming home?"

"I say we throw his molesting ass back in Arkham." Damian hisses, shoving Tim aside to stand closer to the Dark Knight.

"Is the Big Bat home?" Jason asks, ignoring the young bird. Dick shakes his head slowly.

"He's in Syria the last time we heard from him…and Jay, you know he's going to find out you escaped."

"Well, he's in Syria. What's he going to do? Yell at me through video chat? Please, Dickie Bird." Dick pouts cutely, shoving Jason's arm off of him, clearly offended.

"You know I hate that nickname."

"You can't have everything you want. I mean, you already have these two fawning over you." Red Hood nods towards the birds, who instantly freeze. Dick glances at them curiously, then looks back to Jason, clearly confused.

"What are you talking about?" Jason bursts out laughing, holding his stomach as he doubles over.

"You honestly can't see-" He lets out a huff as a small form tackles him to the ground. Dick moves to help, but Damian keeps him pinned.

"Robin! Stand down."

"He was going for his gun!" Tim covers for the young bird, earning a curt nod from the ex-assassin.

"How the hell do you figure that?" Jason shouts irritatedly, finally managing to break free from the young teen's hold. Damain flips back, landing in a crouch, ready to spring back into action.

"Everyone, calm down." Dick steps between them, trying to diffuse the rising tension. "Jay, you know you're always welcome at the manor. And Dami, if he wanted to shoot at us, he would have already."

"He can't be trusted, Grayson. Your faith in people is going to get you killed one day." Damian huffs, crossing his arms. Jason snickers in amusement at how tamed he had his birds without even realizing it. Oh, this was going to be good.

"Actually, I think I will crash at the manor. The Big Bat's not there to ruin the atmosphere." Dick's eyes widen in shock as he spins around to face the criminal.

"Seriously? This is great!" He beams one of his classic thousand-watt smiles excitedly. "We're all back together again! Well…except for Steph…but that would be awkward to have her in the house with us..." Before he could continue planning anything else, Tim holds up a gloved hand, successfully stopping the Dark Knight's train of thought.

"No, we're not having another party." Dick deflates slightly before perking up at the sounds of police sirens going off in the vicinity. He slips in 'business mode' and whips out his grapple gun.

"Split up. No one move in until I give the order." The two birds nod as Jason waves his hand dismissively, taking a running start for the ledge. Looked like play time would have to wait until later.

The Dark Knight lands on the roof adjacent to the loading docks silently. They had followed the get-away van from the jewelry store to their current location. So far, it seemed like an everyday heist, that could easily be stopped. Especially with four members of the Batfamily tailing them. Batman whips out his binoculars, zeroing in on the plate of the parked van. After confirming that it was, in fact, a match, he presses a hand to his ear, activating his comm link.

"Everyone, report."

"They just started to load the diamonds into the boat." Damian's voice comes through first.

"I count eight. That's plenty for each of us." Tim adds. He no doubt was in the highest vantage point in the area, scoping it out for any other possible gunmen.

"Let's just go already. Do you guys always do so much planning? How boring." Jason comes through, having no doubt, hacked and intercepted their radio frequency.

"Alright. Be careful. We don't know what kind of artillery they're carrying." Dick finalizes, quietly dropping down to ground level, making sure he stayed in the shadows. A birdarang flies out from the left, knocking a bag out of the hand of one of the thugs. The gunmen quickly stop loading their getaway boat and pull out their semiautomatics. They start firing off into the darkness in hopes of hitting something, but all of their efforts were in vain. One of the men stumbles to the side, taking hit to the side of the head from Red Robin's collapsible staff. Before they could refocus their fire, Robin appears to their left. He takes hold of the side of the gun, flicking the safety on, and jerks it forward, bashing the butt of the gun into their face, crushing the thief's nose. The young bird quickly tosses several birdarangs, attempting to disarm the rest of the crooks, but a gun quickly fires from behind him. The bullets beat the birdarangs, successfully disarming the criminals. Robin growls in irritation before kicking the thug running at him in the solar plexus. The thug collapses to the ground gasping for air as the Bat makes his appearance. He pauses, hearing the familiar click of a grenade, and looks up just in time to see one of the thieves in the boat, tossing a grenade at them, pin already taken out.

"Get down!" Without thinking, Batman grabs Robin, and pulls him close to his chest before turning away from the blast right as it goes off.

"Batman!" Was the last thing Dick heard before pain erupted through his body.

As the smoke cleares, Tim coughs roughly, stumbling through the wreckage, trying to find any sign of his brothers. "Batman! Robin!" He calls hoarsely, coughing again. The hacker's breath catches as he hears a grunt and the rubble from the explosion starts to shift. He tries to run over to it, but trips, only to be caught by a strong chest. Red Robin looks up to see Jason, his red biker helmet removed, leaving only the red domino mask. His eyes scan the wreckage, and spots the area his younger brother was trying to head for. He beats the bird to it, quickly digging through it. Jason grabs a hand, yanking out the youngest of the brothers, who coughs roughly, looking around desperately as blood drips down the side of his head where a large gash now was.

"Grayson!" Damian wheezes, shoving Jason away to start digging in the rubble. The criminal just grunts, pushing the bird out of the way, and finally finds what they were all looking for. He pauses minutely before hauling the limp form from his concrete prison. The two birds stare in horror at the amount of blood their brother was covered in. Before panic could set in, Jason sighs, hauling the battered Bat over his shoulder.

"He's alive. Call Alfred and tell him to get Leslie. Better safe than sorry." Tim nods numbly, tapping the comm link in his ear to call their loyal butler. Damian balls a fist, trembling with rage.

"It's my job to protect him." He seethes, clenching his eyes shut as they start to burn. "Useless."

"Don't beat yourself up, kid. He would have done it anyway." Jason tries to soothe the teen, not wanting to have to deal with an unconscious Bat and a crying, moody, ex-assassin. "You probably have a concussion, so don't stress yourself out too much."

"That bastard is going to pay." Damian hisses viciously. Tim turns back around, looking over to their oldest brother sadly.

"Is he going to be alright?" Jason shrugs, looking at the unconscious Bat on his shoulder.

"He's been through worse. I'm sure he'll be fine in a couple of weeks." Tim jumps as a loud crash resonates throughout the leveled area. He glances over at Damian, concluding that he had embedded his katana into one of the chunks of concrete. Robin pulls the sword out, storming off silently as Red Robin sighs heavily. "Guess that wasn't the answer he wanted." Jason adds, staring after the bird.

"I just hope he's alright…he took the brunt of the explosion."

"Stop stressing out, Replacement." Jason grumbles, shifting Dick on his shoulder before starting to make his way towards the Batcave. Tim looks down morosely, following after him. So much for a 'normal night of patrol'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, and for those who are wondering; I got the 'Swan Queen' idea from this freaking hilarious pic of deviantart. Here's the link: http://crimsonhorror.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d3iirqd


	4. Among Birds and Bats

The first thing Dick noticed as he slowly came out of the haze of unconsciousness was the high pitched, insistent beeping. He scrunches his nose in annoyance, and reaches his hand up to rip off the thing tickling his nose. A smaller hand catches his, stopping him before he could get too far.

"Ah! Don't do that! Leslie just managed to stabilize you!" Tim cries out as Dick looks up at him blearily. Red Robin sighs with relief as his older brother drops his hand, relaxing slightly.

"What happened?"

"Do you remember the explosion?" The Bat nods slowly before his eyes widen and he tries to sit up. Tim jumps up from the chair at his side and pushes his chest back down. "Hold on! You're in no shape to be getting up yet. Don't worry…everyone's fine. If you're looking for Damian, he's right there." Tim points to the right side of the bed where Damian was curled up, fast asleep. Dick blinks, staring down at the slumbering bird in confusion, having not even felt him next to him. "You're on some pretty heavy pain killers." The acrobat shifts, wincing slightly.

"What's the damage?"

"A few broken ribs, a punctured lung, concussion, broken left leg, and some pretty severe burns on your arms and back." Dick frowns tiredly.

"Huh. Guess it could be worse."

"How many times do I have to tell you to be  _careful_ , Grayson?" Damian's drowsy voice grumbles from beside the broken Bat. The young teen glares up at Tim venomously, suddenly remembering the other Robin's presence. "This is all your fault! You were supposed to be keeping tabs on all of the criminals!"

" _My_  fault? Oh no. You're  _not_  blaming this on me!  _You_  were closest to the boat in the first place! And don't forget the fact that he got hurt saving  _your_  ass!" Tim retorts getting up from the seat beside the bed. Damian growls, jumping off the bed in rage.

"I've told him on multiple accounts that I do not need his protection! You were on lookout.  _You_  were supposed to warn us of any dangers we couldn't see!" Jason walks in, taking a swig of beer and smirks as the two birds get in each others' faces, standing mere inches from each other as Dick stares at them in helpless horror.

"I say it's both of your faults. You're both Robins. You're supposed to protect the Bat. That's how it works. You're damn lucky that his suit took most of the damage." The rogue states, relishing in the look of rage that flickers across the birds' faces. It was far too much fun to mess with them.

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't showed up!" Tim yells at Jason, turning on his older brother.

"Actually, it still would have happened. But one of  _you_  probably would have taken more damage, since you would be a man down." Red Hood smirks, taking another swig of beer.

"We never asked for your help! No one even wants you here!"

"Dickie Bird invited me, in case you've forgotten." Jason leans against the wall, grinning victoriously as Tim fumes.

"Fuck you, Todd. Go fall onto a crowbar." Damian hisses as Jason's expression instantly darkens.

"What did you just say, brat?" The young ex-assassin smirks darkly, taking a step towards the older rogue.

"If you need help with it, I'm more than willing to oblige. I'm certain we have a crowbar around here somewhere." Jason puts his beer down before punching the young bird in the face. Damian winces, having not been able to dodge in time. Tim gets between them, glaring up at Jason.

"Stop this! Both of you!"

"Oh, shut it, Replacement. Why don't you just go crawl back up Bruce's ass where you belong?" Tim's eyes flash as he tries to kick Jason, but the rogue catches his foot, throwing him back against the wall. Damian lunges at him, kicking him in the stomach. Jason stumbles back, catching himself on the doorframe. Dick tries to get out of bed to stop the fighting, but cringes, falling back down weakly.

"Silence!" The entirety of the Batfamily jumps at sound of the stern voice they all knew so well coming from right behind them. The three feuding brothers turn to face the original Bat, horror written all over their face. "And just  _what_  is going on here?"

"B-Bruce? What are y-you doing h-here?" Tim asks nervously, looking away from their father in shame.

"I got a call from Alfred." Was all he needed to say for them to understand. Bruce was overprotective of his oldest son. That was a well-known fact. The second he got the call from Alfred, saying that Richard was injured, he was on a plane headed back home regardless if he was needed or not. Judging by the way the billionaire's normally pristine suit was ruffled and his shirt un-tucked, he came in a hurry. Dick looks up at Bruce tentatively as the Bat makes his way to his battered son. The acrobat smiles weakly, trying to sit up slightly.

"Um. Hey, Bruce." The billionare eyes him, noting every bandage and slight tense of his eldest son's muscles revealing the pain the acrobat was trying so hard to hide. Bruce's eyes narrow as he turns to face the birds and his rogue son, crossing his arms.

"Explain." Tim shrinks back slightly as Damian just huffs, looking away. Jason scoffs, crossing his arms as well.

"The Replacement and the Brat we're fighting over whose fault it was that Dickie Bird got hurt." Red Hood explains, waving his hand in disinterest. Tim shoots him a glare before turning towards the original Dark Knight.

"Dick, Damian, and I were on patrol. Jason showed up and right when we were about to get things settled-"

"Figures you would over-embellish things to please the Bat." Jason interrupts, rolling his eyes.

"And just  _what_  are you doing out of Arkham?" Bruce snaps, sending his rogue son the infamous Batglare. Jason looks away, trying to quickly come up with an excuse.

"There was a grenade, and I jumped in front of it, alright?" Dick shouts irritatedly. All the yelling was seriously giving him a headache. The remaining members of the Batfamily all pause, looking back at the acrobat, who was now standing beside the bed, using a chair for support. "And for the record,  _I_ invited Jason back to the manor. Now, can everyone just please shut up? My head is killing me." Dick sways slightly, and all hell breaks loose. Bruce, Damian, and Tim all leap into action, trying to catch him. Tim trips, and reaches out, trying to stabilize himself, only to grab Damian's arm and pull him down with him. Bruce pauses from the road block, only to look up in dread as his eldest son hits the floor with a grunt. "Ok. Bad idea." He groans, staring up at the ceiling, trying to stop the room from spinning. Tim and Damian get off the floor, glaring at each other irritatedly.

"Look at what you've done! His wounds could have reopened!" Damian hisses, ready for another fight. Bruce puts a hand on each of their heads, and forces them away from each other before quickly making his way to his injured son. The billionaire gently helps Dick sit up, not missing the way his son tries to hide the, no doubt, stabbing pain shooting up his spine from the irritated burns on his back.

"Always stealing the spotlight, Dickie Bird." Jason grumbles, starting to make for the exit before Bruce set his sights on him again. Dick looks up at him like a kicked puppy, causing the rogue to instantly freeze.

"Please don't go, Jay…"

"Don't give me that look. It doesn't work on me." Dick's lower lip trembles as his eyes start to water.

"Is it something I did? It's because I'm a horrible brother, isn't it?" He starts to slur, the wave of painkillers Bruce had just injected him with while he was distracted was starting to kick in. " 'M sorry, Jay…'s ok…you can go…" The acrobat looks down devastatedly. "I've failed you as a big brother…I've failed everyone as a big brother…" Jason looks away, sighing heavily.

"I need a beer. I'll be in my room if you need me." With that, he slips out as Dick's face lights up the entire room. With the smile alone, all the tension seemed to clear. Bruce sighs heavily, running a hand through his ebony locks. He hauls the twenty-five-year-old up, gently placing him back in bed.

"Get some sleep, Dick."

" 'Kay…and no more fighting. It makes my heart hurt…and my head." Dick pouts cutely before passing out from the drugs. Once Bruce was sure his oldest was asleep, he turns to face his birds, a dark expression upon his face.

"You two have a lot of explaining to do."


	5. Never Anger Bats

The next time Dick drifts back into consciousness, he glances around curiously. He was in the Batcave infirmary the last time he remembered, but now he was in his room.

"The Bat carried you up here a few hours ago." Jason's deep voice states from the corner of the room. Dick jumps, looking over to him and pouts, blushing slightly.

"I'm not a child. I could have walked up here." Jason chuckles, pushing off from the wall he was leaning against and walks up to his older brother. "And how long have you been standing there? Creeper…" Dick mumbles, looking away. Jason coughs, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably.

"Not long. The kitchen was becoming a war zone so I came here to hide out…" The acrobat cocks his head to the side in confusion.

"Why is it a war zone? Don't tell me Alfred is going on his cleaning spree again…"

"…Not exactly." Suddenly, the door bursts open, followed by Tim and Damian, both trying to squeeze through the doorframe at the same time and both holding a tray full of food.

"I was here first, Drake!" Damian hisses, giving the hacker a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"No you weren't! And you only started cooking for Dick after I did! Get your own ideas!" Dick stares at the two, clearly still confused as they finally squeeze through the doorframe and tumble into his room, miraculously not dropping their trays. Blame their years of training from the Bat. "I made your favorite! Lasagna! Alfred helped me make it just the way you like it!" Tim holds the tray out to Dick as the other Bat sits up. Jason tucks the pillows behind the acrobat, making him more comfortable, earning a grateful smile from the eldest brother and a dark glare from the young birds. The rogue rolls his eyes, stepping away before they decided to attack. Tim ignores him, setting the tray down gently on his older brother's lap.

"Thanks, Timmy! You really didn't have to go through all this trouble…"

"Nonsense! It was no trouble at all! Can I get you anything else? Maybe a-" Damian shoves the hacker out of the way and places his tray on top of Tim's, much to Red Robin's dismay.

"I made you a much lighter meal. Since for you, it's breakfast, I have your favorite fruit sliced up, eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee brewed to perfection." Dick stares down at the tray, clearly impressed.

"You did all of this yourself?" Damian nods, smirking smugly.

"Yes. Unlike  _Drake_ , I am capable of cooking by myself." Tim glares at the young teen.

"Anyone can cook  _that_! Mine was a lot more complicated!"

"It's not my fault you chose to make a dinner item for his  _breakfast_. Clearly my dish is the more appealing one."

"You arrogant little  _demon_!" Tim glares, clenching his fist as Damian rolls his eyes.

"Tt. Your poor excuse for an insult has no effect on me."

"Stop fighting." The two birds jump at the sound of Bruce's annoyed voice from behind them. "Alfred is not pleased at the way you two left the kitchen. Go downstairs and help him clean up.  _Now._ " The Robins scamper off quickly in fear of DaddyBats' wrath as Bruce approaches his two eldest sons. He glances over to Jason, who was inconspicuously trying to sneak out. "We need to speak in private." Jason sighs, following the billionaire out of the room. Once out of Dick's earshot, Bruce turns to face his rouge son, his eyes narrowing slightly as Jason leans against the wall casually.

"What now, Bats? You already made it perfectly clear that you're only allowing me to stay here for Dick's sake. At least I haven't destroyed your kitchen like Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb."

"I just looked at the security feed from the night you decided to make your  _appearance._  Let me make  _this_ perfectly clear as well. You ever touch Richard's backside again, and Arkham will be the least of your worries." Bruce hisses darkly before walking back downstairs, no doubt to make sure the Robin's were cleaning properly. Jason pales slightly, his mouth falling open in shock.

"And Dick calls  _me_  a creeper…" He grumbles, heading back towards Dick's room and sneaks back in. Jason smirks, seeing Dick slowly eating something off both trays of food, not wanting to play favorites. "They're not going to be happy that you didn't pick one of them over the other." Dick looks up at him and shrugs.

"I like both things…and I don't want to give them more reason to fight…besides, I haven't eaten anything in about a day, so I'm starving." Jason rolls his eyes and walks over to the other Bat's TV, turning it on.

"I hooked up the x-box in here for you while you were unconscious. Knowing the Bat, he's going to keep you locked in here for about a week." Dick's eyes widen in horror as he drops his fork.

"A  _week_? You've got to help me bust out of here!"

"Calm down, Dickie Bird…just give him some time…he gets incredibly grumpy when you're down for the count…" Jason tosses him the consol controller. "Have fun…I'm off to the store. I'm hungry and the kitchen is off limits at the moment." Dick pouts, looking up at him sadly.

"I'll share some of my food with you…wanna play a round of Battlefield with me?" Jason was about to protest, but growls under his breath when he sees Dick look back down at his food dejectedly.

"Fine. But don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're wounded." The acrobat beams excitedly.

"Wouldn't have it any other way!" He scoots over, careful of his wounds and the trays of food as Jason grabs the extra controller.

"I'm probably going to regret this later."

"Regret what?" Dick looks over to him innocently.

"…Nothing."

* * *

After finally finishing cleaning up the kitchen under the very watchful eyes of Bruce and Alfred, the two birds quickly head back up to their older brother's room, trying to race each other the whole way. Once they make it to their intended target, Damian kicks the door open, making sure he was first through the door. Once inside, his eyes narrow furiously at the sight before him. Jason snickers, sitting on the bed next to Dick and grabs another piece of fruit from the tray.

"Looks like I win again, Dickie Bird." Jason jokes, nudging the glowering Bat.

"So not fair! You're cheating!"

"No, you just keep spacing out because of all the medication Bruce has you on." Dick sticks his tongue out childishly before Damian decides to finally make his presence known.

"Todd. I specifically made that for  _Grayson_. How  _dare_  you put your bloody hands all over it!" The ex-assassin hisses viciously as the two in the bed glance over at him in shock as Tim finally makes his way into the room as well.

"Relax, Little Demon. He couldn't eat all of the food, so he decided to share it with me. Guess that makes me the favorite." Jason smirks evilly as Damian starts to fume. Tim looks between the two curiously before glaring at the close proximity between Jason and Dick.

"That's a lie! He's only giving you attention because you keep threatening to leave. We all know if you leave, you're not going to come back. It's sick that you're playing on his emotions like that! He's hurt and you're guilt-tripping him into spending time with you!" Tim adds as Damian smirks viciously at the look of rage that passes over Jason's face.

"You're full of shit!  _He's_  the one guilt-tripping  _me_! I would love nothing more than to get out of this hell hole!" Dick looks up at him sadly.

"It's not that bad here…"

"He's just too much of a warm-hearted fool to push you away." Damian adds as Jason gets off the bed, towering over the two birds menacingly.

"Say that  _one_  more time, runt." Damian grins darkly, crossing his arms.

"You heard me. Unless you're going deaf from all the beat-downs you've taken."

"ENOUGH!" Dick shouts, standing on his good leg and grabs a pair of crutches he had stashed in the corner in case he had to go to the bathroom. "You three can fight all you damn well please. I'm leaving." The three younger brothers' eyes widen in shock as Dick hobbles over to the closet and grabs a shirt. He slips it on carefully over the bandages then pulls out a pair of sweatpants from the drawer and starts trying to pull them up over his boxers without jarring his broken leg too badly. Tim rushes over to help him, but Dick waves him off, slipping his shoes on, now fully dressed, and grabs a hoodie. He slides the jacket on before limping towards the door on the crutches.

"Dick, wait-" Tim reaches out to try to stop him, but Dick slams the door closed behind him. Jason sighs heavily, running a hand over his face.

"Shit…once the Bat finds out, we're going to be dead." The two birds nod solemnly.

"Should we go after him?" Tim asks hesitantly.

"It's pointless to go after him now. If he doesn't want to be found, we won't be able to find him. We should give him a few hours, and if he's not back by then, we go after him." Damian states, heading for the door. "As for the situation with Father…we need to keep him away from this room at all costs." The other two nod in agreement. It was going to be a very long day…

 


	6. Deceiving the Detective

Bruce peers up at the clock from his book and his eyebrows kit in concern. It had been over an hour and there was no shouting. With all the Robins aside from Stephanie in one place, fighting was inevitable. Especially when Dick was injured. The billionaire sighs heavily, sets the book down, and gets up deciding to check on his birds. He makes his way out of the study and heads down to the kitchen, figuring they would be arguing over what they were going to make their oldest brother for lunch. Instead of the yelling that he was expecting, he was greeted with Alfred cooking while Tim helps him gather all the ingredients for lunch.

"Where's Damian and Jason?" The hacker visibly stiffens, slowly turning to face his father.

"Hm? Who?" Bruce raises an eyebrow skeptically.

"So now you've forgotten the people you've been fighting with for the last few days?"

"Oh! Right. They are…um…well-"

"The Demon's with the Golden Boy." Jason answers, shoving Tim out of the way, and sends him a warning glare. "I came to get a beer. Dealing with all of you people requires alcohol." Jason slides past Bruce, making his way over to the fridge. The Bat frowns, looking between the two.

"I'll go check on Dick." He turns on his heel, heading for the stairs when the two birds freeze in terror.

"Actually, I need you to help me with some homework! College is killing me!"

"Your fall semester just ended." Bruce slips past the third Robin, and heads up the stairs. Before he makes it to the first Robin's room, Damian appears in front of him, frowning up at him.

"Grayson is asleep. I will not allow anyone to disturb him. Even  _you_ , Father." Bruce raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"Is that so. I just need to give him more pain medication and redress his wounds."

"I can do it."

"You don't know the dosage."

"Then tell me." The two glare at each other, both not budging on their decision. Jason and Tim make their way to them as well and look between the two nervously.

"I'm going to check on him." Bruce states firmly, brushing past the youngest bird. Jason jumps in front of him, slamming the door closed just as Bruce tried to open it.

"We promised him that he would have no disturbances. You really don't want to anger your Golden Boy, now do you?" Jason states, standing in front of the door to block any entrance. Bruce's eyes narrow suspiciously as he stalks off, deciding to just check the security cameras in the Batcave to figure out why his birds were acting so strangely. They were hiding something and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

* * *

Dick sighs heavily, limping in downtown Gotham on his crutches. It was around lunch time by now, so he decided to head to his favorite pizzeria. Halfway there, he frowns, feeling as though he was being followed. He quickly turns down an alley and turns around, waiting patiently for the 'stalker' to show themselves. His eyes widen as the figure steps out of the shadows, revealing a built man with silver hair and an eye patch over his right eye.

"Aw, damn." The Bat grumbles under his breath.

"Why hello there, Richard." The man states pleasantly, taking a step closer to the newest Bat. "It's been far too long." Dick's eyes narrow as he takes a cautious step back.

"Slade. What are you doing back in Gotham?"

"I came here to visit an old friend."

"Riiiight. Listen, I don't have time to deal with you today." Slade smirks darkly, snapping his fingers. A group of masked thugs appear next to the injured Bat, causing him to curse under his breath.

"On the contrary. You have all the time in the world." The thugs move in on Dick, successfully restraining him.

"You won't get away with this!"

"I already have. No one knows where you are." Slade nods to his minions, and they start carting him off as the Bat thrashes violently, trying to break free. Looked like his terrible day just got  _that_  much better.

* * *

Bruce's eyes narrow dangerously, clenching his fist as he sees Dick storm out of the manor. No wonder his birds were acting strange. He gets up, and heads back upstairs, finding the Robins huddled in the hallway outside of Dick's room, trying to come up with another plan. He crosses his arms, giving them the infamous Batglare.

"Where is Richard." The original Dark Knight demands as the bird's jump, looking up at him in terror.

"In his room." Jason tries, but Bruce's glare intensifies. They were  _so_  busted.

"Find him and bring him back. You have one hour before I find him myself. If you fail to do so, you will not like the consequences. The three pale, before quickly scampering off, not wanting to face the wrath of the Bat.


	7. Ticking Clock

The dimmed lights in the already dreary halfway house flicker, adding to the already ominous aura of the room. Slade and his minions had made short work of tying up and securing the newest Bat. Dick glares up at his nemesis irritatedly. All he wanted was a pizza and enjoy it in peace, but Deathstorke had to ruin everything. What else was new? The aging assassin leers down at him, yanking the acrobat's chin up to look at him. Dick's eyes narrow further in annoyance as he tries to pull away.

"What do you want  _now_ , Slade?" Deathstroke smirks, dropping his pervious apprentice's chin.

"I wonder who ruffled your feathers this time…must have been one of your younger replacements." Dick rolls his eyes, flexing his fingers to test the ropes. Unfortunately, Slade knew better than to leave any room for him to escape.

"Try  _all_  of my brothers. They have been screaming at each other nonstop for the last couple of days. Now, are you going to tell me what your plan is, or do I have to try to guess?"

"I have no use for  _you_. Renegade on the other hand… _him_  I have use for." Dick growls under his breath, desperately wanting to punch the villain in the face.

"Renegade is dead."

"So you think. You see, I've been working on a little something to get my  _apprentice_  back. I still have much I would like to teach him. I fear I won't be around forever." Dick smirks smugly, leaning back in the chair he was restrained to.

"Oh? Does that have anything to do with the little heart attack I gave you?" Deathstroke glares darkly, roughly backhanding the Bat across the face. Dick spits the broken tooth out of his mouth, giving Slade a evil grin as blood drips slowly from his lips. "What, did I strike a nerve?" Deathstroke pulls out a small dagger and digs it into the bandaged area of the acrobat's right arm. Dick hisses in pain, trying to pull away, but Slade quickly kicks the bandages of the Bat's broken left leg. He cries out agony, his eyes watering as Slade pulls his head up by his hair to make the Bat look him in the eye.

"Don't interrupt me again. Next time, I won't be as kind." The mercenary hisses ominously before ripping the dagger roughly out of the acrobat's arm. Dick whimpers in pain as Slade releases his captive's hair and walks back over to the laptop that was sitting on a dark, weather-warn table. "I'll have my apprentice back one way or another." He starts typing quickly as Dick tries to steady his breathing. This was  _so_  disastrous. Heavy on the dis.

* * *

Red Robin jumps to yet another rooftop, frowning down at the busy crowds of Gotham. He taps his ear, activating his comm link, hoping his brothers were having more luck than himself.

"Robin, Red Hood. Have any of you guys found him yet?"

"What do  _you_  think, Swan Queen? I would have contacted you if I found Grayson." Damian states gruffly through the comm. Tim sighs heavily, waiting for Jason's reply.

"Nadda, Replacement. I even tried one of the bars I would always drag him to, and he's not there. The bartender hasn't seen him either." Red Hood states offhandedly.

"Well, it's already been forty minutes. We have twenty minutes before Batman steps in." Tim adds nervously. He did  _not_  want to know what their punishment was going to be.

"You think I don't know that? Is Golden Boy wearing a tracker? That's how Bats would find him." Jason suggests, only to earn a scoff from Damian.

"Tt. I tried that before we left the manor. Either he doesn't have one on him, or it's been deactivated." The three stand on opposite sides of Gotham in silence. The last part of that sentence turned their insides to ice. What if something happened to Dick? He was injured. Sure, he could handle himself, but what if it was one of Arkham's finest? He wouldn't stand a chance against someone like Joker or Two-Face in his current condition. "T-Though I am certain he's fine."

"Keep telling yourself that, Demon." Jason states, not missing the young teen's stutter. "Hey, Replacement. Can't you hack the security feeds of the city? Surely one of the traffic cams or something caught sight of Dickie Bird." Tim instantly perks up, quickly typing on his holo-glove to try to access at least one of the feeds in the area.

"Give me a couple minutes. There's a lot of video to sort through."

"Tt. Because we have  _all_  day, Drake."

"You ungrateful little-" Time starts, but calls out in joy when he catches a glimpse of Dick on his crutches headed down the street not too far from where he was currently located. "Found him. The time stamp is from about an hour ago. Wait…he just turned down an alley. I have to get another view." He quickly scans through the feeds until he pauses, staring at the holo-screen in horror. The hacker sees an all too familiar figure turn down the same alley his older brother did mere seconds before. "Oh dear God…"

"What? You just going to wait until the Bat kicks our asses to tell us?" Jason snaps irritatedly.

"Drake. You had better inform us of what you found out before I personally castrate-" Damian starts, but Tim's breathless voice cuts him off.

"D-Deathstroke." The other two go deathly silent. "Deathstroke has him."

"Aw, shit.  _Now_  what are we going to tell the Bat?" Jason grumbles, starting to head to Tim's location to regroup.

"We're not informing Father on anything we found. We are going to find Grayson and bring him back. Simple as that." Damian's curt reply breaks through as he also starts to head towards Tim. "No one touches Wilson. He's  _mine_."

"Oh no. You don't get all the glory! I've been wanting to kick his ass for years!" Jason adds much to Tim's dismay.

"Guys, let's not fight over who's taking Slade down first."

"First one to find Deathstroke gets dibs." Jason smirks as the other two birds suddenly become quiet.

"You're on." They both state simultaneously before clicking their comm links off. The three birds instantly scatter, scouring the city to try to find the mercenary.

* * *

Alfred frowns, watching Bruce pace around the kitchen for the hundredth time in the last minute.

"Sir, if I may…" The billionare instantly looks up at his father figure. "You need to put more faith in your sons."

"He's been gone for almost two hours now! What if something happened to him?"

"You gave them a time limit. It is almost up. I shall make a nice cup of tea for you and have it waiting in the cave, Sir. Surly by the time you finish up with your paperwork from Wayne Enterprises, their time limit will have expired." Bruce throws the butler a rare grin before heading for his study.

"Thanks, Alfred!"

"Of course, Master Bruce." Alfred turns to the stove, before sighing heavily. There was always so much tension without Master Richard around. He always brought much needed light to the manor. He had to have faith that the birds would bring back their missing sun.


	8. Finding Grayson

Dick thrashes against the restraints, crying out in agony as Slade grins darkly, cranking up the voltage on the electrodes attached to his victim. The mercenary turns the machine off, walking back over to the Bat and yanks his head up by his hair.

"Are you ready to cooperate yet?" Dick glares up at him weakly and spits in his face.

"Go to hell." The Bat rasps out, wincing as another wave of convulsions wracks his body. Slade takes out a syringe and pushes the light blue fluid into the IV he had inserted into Dick's arm earlier.

"You'll break soon enough."

"Oh  _please_! You've tried the same old shit for years!" Slade smirks, walking back over to the electrotherapy machine. "Just wait until my family finds me!"

"They'll be too late." He switches the machine back on, causing Dick to cry out in anguish once again.

* * *

Damian drops down in the alley moments after Tim had already scouted the area and taken off. From Robin's keen observations, Red Robin had tried to track them in the security feed, and headed in the direction he believed Slade to be. Robin glances up at the rooftop and smirks, seeing a shred of gauze hooked on the fire escape.

"Better than breadcrumbs." The youngest bird states smugly, whipping out his grappling hook and latches it onto the roof. He easily swings up to the top of the fire escape and takes the piece of cloth, before looking around for another piece. Damian smirks, seeing another piece not too far away. It seemed as though Tim was headed in the wrong direction. Figures the hacker would trust technology over something that was right in front of him. The last he saw of Jason, he was headed in a different direction as well. Looks like Slade was going to be all his.

* * *

Bruce glances up at the clock and frowns. The time limit was up, and he still hadn't heard from any of his birds. The billionaire starts typing on the Batcomputer and tries to pull up Dick's tracker. His eyebrows kit in concern when the search comes back empty. He starts pulling up the video feeds, deciding to at least find his birds. When he sees that they were in different parts of the city, he sighs heavily, running a hand through his hair. What was going on? Bruce cracks his knuckles before starting to type again quickly, puling the security feeds from earlier trying to figure out why they were searching so frantically. He finds the video of the three convened and huddled, talking in panicked voices. The Bat turns the volume up and his eyes narrow dangerously, hearing Slade's name mentioned. Alfred walks up just as Bruce gets up quickly, knocking the chair over, and storms over to his Batsuit.

"My word, Sir. What has you in such a rush?" The loyal butler asks, glancing over at the computer screen.

"It's Slade. He's the one who has Dick. I'm going to make sure that sick bastard never hurts him ever again." Bruce hisses menacingly as Alfred's eyes widen in shock.

"But Sir! You can't dispose of him! This isn't what Master Richard would want."

"Fine. I'll just brake every bone in his body." The Bat grumbles, snatching the suit and heads off to the bathroom to change.

* * *

Robin lands on the roof of the abandoned halfway house silently and looks around for an entrance. He leans over the edge slightly, and sees the fire escape unguarded. It was too easy, but he would worry about the traps later. The youngest bird activates his tracker so that his other two brothers and father could find him just in case, then creeps inside. He frowns at the lack of guards and sticks to the shadows, heading towards the room where he saw a dim light glowing in the otherwise pitch black building. Damian silently works his way towards the room and peers in, his eyes narrowing with rage when he sees the condition his oldest brother was in. Dick's head was down as he pants exhaustedly before screaming in pain as Slade switches on the machine once again.

"It seems as though we have a visitor." Slade sneers, glancing right at the bird hidden in the shadows. Damian growls irritatedly, stepping into the light, and pulls out a birdarang. Dick glances over at him weakly, blood slowly dripping from his lips.

"D-Damian? You have to-" He coughs, wincing from the effort. "Get out of here….'S a trap."

"Tt. I know that, Grayson." Damian tosses the birdarang at Dick, cutting the ropes that restrained him. The acrobat falls face first onto the floor limply as Slade merely smirks.

"N-No. You…don't understand-" Dick tries to get out, but Slade cuts him off.

"Renegade. Take him down." The acrobat gets up slowly, his eyes suddenly vacant as Slade hands him a katana. Damian's eyes widen as he takes a step back.

"Grayson?" Dick tackles him to the ground, holding the sword to the ex-assassin's throat. "Stop! It's  _me_!"

"Kill him." Slade hisses, grinning when Dick raises the katana for the finishing blow.

"Dick!" The sword stops inches before Damian's throat. Dick's hand trembles, as he shuts his eyes tightly, trying to fight for control. The acrobat's inner struggle allows the youngest bird to kick off his older brother and flip back to his feet. Dick stumbles back, holding his head painfully.

"I said to  _kill him._ " Deathstroke growls, causing Dick's head to snap up in attention and start heading towards Damian once again. Robin curses, taking off in the opposite direction. Once he figured out a way to get Dick back to normal, Slade was a dead man.


	9. Revenge Is Best Served Cold

Damian curses, throwing a birdarang behind him as Dick gets closer. No doubt the newest Bat was in pain running on his broken leg, but he showed no sign of distress. In fact, the most emotional ex-bird of all had a vacant expression. It was unnerving. Dick was never supposed to look like  _this_. Robin rounds the corner in the abandoned halfway house and dives out of the window before Dick could gain any more ground on him. He shoots off his grappling hook, latching it onto the adjacent rooftop. Robin swings up onto the roof, and takes off into a sprint once again. A batarang flies out from behind Robin, striking him in the leg. Damian hisses in pain and falls to the ground roughly. He quickly tries to get up but the Bat was already on him, grabbing him by the throat. Damian quickly grabs Dick's hand, trying to pry his older brother's hand off of him, but to no avail.

"D-Dick! St-op!" Damian thrashes, kicking at the older bird to try to dislodge him. Dick's grip loosens slightly and he blinks, staring down at his younger brother.

"D….Dami?" Robin nods, still squirming under the Bat's grasp. Just before the acrobat lets go, Slade appears on the same rooftop, smirking darkly.

"What have we talked about, Renegade? Finish him." Dick's face goes blank again before his grip on the young teens' neck tightens. Suddenly, gunfire resonates through the air, and Slade stumbles back, holding his shoulder which was now bleeding. Deathstroke glares up, seeing Red Hood smirking on a roof one building away, aiming his pistol at him once again. Slade ducks behind the roof access of the building just as Red Robin lands on the roof, kicking Dick off of the youngest bird. Damian coughs roughly, catching his breath as Tim steps in front of him protectively, holding up his bow staff.

"You take the birds. I'll finish off the rogue." Slade growls from his cover before taking off in the opposite direction.

Dick runs at Tim, and swings the sword down, aiming for his head. Tim's eyes widen slightly before quickly bringing up his bow staff to block it. Damian, having caught his breath, appears behind Dick, and kicks him in his broken leg. The acrobat's knee buckles and he falls to the ground. Damian jumps up, about to take him down, but Dick catches the bird's arm and uses his momentum to throw him aside. Tim tries to hit the back of Dick's neck to knock him out, but Dick spins around, blocking the blow with his katana. The Bat balances on his free arm, and kicks Tim's legs out from under him. Tim falls to the ground as Dick gets up, holding the sword to Red Robin's chest. Damian throws a birdarang at him, but Dick blocks it with the katana. Before he can turn around again and finish off Tim, the Bat cries out in agony as a taser connects with the back of his neck. Dick convulses before collapsing limply into the strong arms of the original Dark Knight. The acrobat coughs roughly, blood trickling out of his mouth as he looks up at his father blurrily.

"B-Bruce?" Batman nods, brushing the blood matted hair out of his son's face.

"I'm here…just rest now." Dick's eyes water as he looks over to Tim and Damian who were approaching slowly; their eyes never leaving their brother.

"I'm…s-so…sor-ry…I-" He hiccups, before wincing from his broken ribs, and starts trembling as tears slowly drip down his cheeks. "I'm so-rry-"

"There's nothing to apologize for." Tim confirms, looking to his brother sadly. Damian nods in agreement.

"Once Todd catches Wilson, he will pay for what he has done." Dick tries to protest, but Bruce gently tilts his oldest son's chin to look at him.

"Shh…you can talk later…go to sleep…you're safe now." The acrobat sniffles weakly before passing out in his father's arms. Bruce looks up at his two birds with a stony expression. "Go help Jason. Bring Slade back here. I need to have a little  _word_  with him." They nod, grinning at the chance to be able to take a shot at Deathstroke.

* * *

Jason curses, ducking behind the water tower as Slade returns fire. He had lost sight of the other birds, but hopefully they were holding out until the Bat could catch up. Red Hood leans around the corner, firing once again as Slade ducks down, avoiding getting hit.

"This is just getting ridiculous." He grumbles, hearing Deathstroke reloading. Jason grins, diving out from his cover and heads straight for the mercenary. He kicks the gun out of Slade's hand and points his pistol at the villain's head. "It's over."

"Hardly. It's only just begun." Slade smirks, pulling out a knife and stabbing it into Jason's foot. The rogue curses, stumbling back. Slade kicks him in the jaw, but Red Hood jumps back, kicking Deathstroke in the chest. Slade catches the ex-bird's foot and twists, trying to break it, but Jason jumps up, kicking the mercenary with his other leg. The two fall to the ground, and Jason wraps his legs around Slade's neck, trying to put him in a chokehold. Slade pulls the knife out of Jason's boot and stabs it into the rogue's calf. Jason cries out in pain, releasing the hold instantly. Deathstroke flips back to his feet and walks over to his discarded gun, picking it up. Just as he finishes reloading it, a birdarang knocks it out of his hand. He looks up to find the source just in time to be kicked in the face by a fuming Damian. Slade stumbles to the side, but before he could catch his bearings, Tim whacks him in his already injured shoulder with his bow staff, causing him to fall to the ground. Red Robin heads over to Jason to help him up as Damian grins evilly, roundhouse kicking Slade in the throat. Deathstroke chokes, trying to scramble up to his feet, Damian tackles him to the ground , digging his elbow into the mercenary's spine.

"Damian. Don't kill him." Tim reprimands, helping Jason limp over to him.

"Why the hell not? You saw what this fucker did to Dick!" Jason hisses, spitting on Slade's back as Damian puts him into a chokehold, trying to snap his neck. Tim's eyes widen, and he quickly drops Jason, who stumbles to the side before catching himself. Red Robin manages to pry the youngest bird's arms from around Slade's neck, but the violent teen continues to pound on the villain.

"Jason! Help me get him off!"

"No." Jason limps over to them and kicks Slade in the side with his injured foot, cringing after doing so. "He deserves everything he gets."

"I know that! But Bruce wants to have at him too!" Tim growls, finally prying the rampaging bird off of the now bloodied assassin.

"Unhand me, Drake! I must avenge Grayson!"

" _Avenge_? He's not dead, kid." Jason snickers, limping over to the roof access door, and leans against it. He pulls out a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it up. Tim glares over at him.

"Does Bruce know about that?"

"Fuck Bruce." Jason mumbles. "I just got stabbed because your sorry asses took too long."

"Don't blame this on us!" Tim hisses, turning to face the rouge. Damian slips from his grasp, and tackles Slade again, who had managed to get up and was trying to escape. "Damnit Damain!" Tim growls, going after the bird again. Before grabbing his younger brother, Red Robin glares at Slade, and kicks him in the face. "This is all your fault!" Jason laughs as the two birds beat the already battered villain. His laughter instantly dies as a dark shadow envelops him.

"Didn't I tell you two I wanted you to bring Slade to me?" The Dark Knight steps out of the shadows next to Jason, glaring at the two beating on his victim. The two stop dead, looking up at the enraged Bat in dread. They back away slowly, bowing their heads in shame. Before walking over to them, Bruce snatches the cigarette from Jason's lips and tosses it off the building. "And you  _will_  stop smoking." Red Hood swallows thickly, staring at the Bat in horror. DaddyBats was pissed. It was an unspoken rule that you  _never_  argue with the Bat when he was in DaddyBats mode. Jason nods, trying to back away. Tim rushes over to him and helps steady him before taking off on his grappling hook. Damian follows suit, disappearing into the shadows. Bruce looms over Slade and turns him over with his foot in disgust. "I believe I need to teach you what happens when you mess with my  _son_." He hisses darkly, grabbing Slade by his shirt, and hauls him up. Before the mercenary could respond, Bruce bashes his face into the ground roughly. "It's a long lesson, and I happen to have all night."

* * *

Alfred gently lathers the unconscious Dick's hair with shampoo to try to get the blood and dirt out. He looked as though he had been through hell, and he didn't want the other birds to see him in such a state. Leslie sighs softly as she sets up a blood transfusion for the acrobat.

"This should get all of the drugs out of his system. You can never be too careful." Alfred nods gratefully as he runs a warm wet cloth through his charge's hair. "He'll be alright…he just needs to sleep it off."

"Thank you very much for your assistance, as always." She nods, looking over at the twenty-five-year-old sadly.

"I was hoping you wouldn't have to call me again so soon…and for Dick, of all people…"

"I nearly had a heart attack myself when the Batmobile pulled up with only Master Richard in such a shape. Master Bruce called to make sure he arrived unharmed and said he had some matters to finish up."

"Figures…hopefully he won't do anything he'll regret."

"I certainly hope not." Alfred states sadly, running a towel through the slumbering Bat's now clean hair. "That's much better. I fear what his brothers may do if they saw him such a state."

"We already have." Tim states from the corner hollowly, Jason leaning on him for support. Alfred nods solemnly before walking over to Tim, and taking over. He helps Jason over to another bed in the infirmary and starts dressing his wounds. Damian walks into the room wordlessly and sits in the chair next to Dick. His eyes flicker to the monitor to check his vitals before focusing on the acrobat once again, taking in all of the fresh bandages.

"He'll recover?" He asks quietly. Leslie nods, picking up Dick's chart.

"Yes. It will take a few weeks, but knowing Dick, he'll be back on his feet in no time. He's on heavy pain killers for the time being, so he'll be unconscious for a couple of days." She glances over at the birds knowingly. "And it needs to stay that way. He needs rest. When he's awake, I know he likes to escape." With that, she sets the chart down before heading out. Tim sighs heavily, running a hand over his face exhaustedly. He was not looking forward to when Bruce came back.

* * *

It was in the early hours of the morning when Bruce returned to the Batcave. He walks purposefully to the infirmary to check on his birds. The billionaire smiles softly, seeing Damian and Tim curled up on either side of Dick, sleeping soundly. Jason snores softly in the bed next to them, his leg and foot freshly bandaged. Alfred walks up to greet him, holding up a silver tray with a mug of his famous steaming hot chocolate. "Thanks, Alfred. You always have perfect timing."

"Of course, Sir. I pray you didn't do something foolish." Bruce takes a sip of the hot chocolate, sighing heavily.

"He won't harm Dick again. And no, I didn't kill him." Alfred raises an eyebrow.

"May I ask what you've done with him?"

"I put hungry lions in his cell in Arkham. I also may have put raw meat in his pockets before locking the door."

"Do the guards know of this?" Bruce shrugs, taking another sip.

"Don't know. Don't care. They knew I was furious with him. They won't go check on him for a while." Alfred sighs heavily, shaking his head before heading up the stairs.

* * *

Damian frowns, feeling as though he was being stared at in his sleep. He cracks an eye open, about to attack, but hisses in annoyance, seeing a familiar red head's face inches from his.

"Holy crap! The Demon  _does_  sleep!" Wally exclaims loudly causing the temperamental bird to hiss once again.

"Do you have  _any_  idea what time it is, West? And what are you doing here? I don't recall anyone inviting you."

"It's just past one in the afternoon, and I'm here because I heard Dick got injured." Damian's eyes narrow as he sits up, looking around at the now crowded room. Many members of League were there including Superman, Superboy, Starfire, Oracle, Arsenal, Stephanie, and Cassandra.

"Who told you?"

"Tim mentioned it to Kon." Wally states easily, leaning back in one of the chairs, giving the ex-assassin some much needed space. Jason limps in and pauses.

"Holy hell. It's a ginger convention." Flash glares over at him irritaedly as Damian hops off the bed. He was starting to get claustrophobic from all of the people in the room. Robin shoves past the heroes, and drags Jason up the stairs to meet up with Tim, who just so happened to be in the kitchen.

"Drake! Why the  _hell_  would you tell  _Kent_  that Grayson was injured? That intel was not supposed to leave the manor!" Tim looks up at him tiredly and sighs.

"I didn't think it would be a big deal, but he was with Clark and he overheard. Then Clark…well… was Clark." Jason grumbles something about boyscouts as he hobbles over to the fridge in search of beer.

"Get rid of them." Damian hisses, towering over his seated brother. Tim looked up at him irritatedly.

"I've tried! They won't leave! They're worried about Dick."

"Apparently you haven't tried hard enough." Jason mumbles, taking out a beer, and closing the fridge before heading over to them. "All of this 'family bonding' is making me itchy. If Dick weren't so adamant on me staying, I would be three states over by now."

"So, we all agree that we want the pests out?" Damian asks, as Jason takes a seat across from Tim. The youngest bird takes a seat as well, folding his hands under his chin as the other two brothers nod. "Excellent. I have a plan." He glances over at Jason. "Todd. Do you still have connections in the underground?"

"Of course…why?" Jason looks over to him curiously as he takes a swig from his bottle.

"Here's what we're going to do." Damian grins darkly as his brothers lean in to listen to the plan. This was going to be good.


	10. This Means War

Wally sighs heavily, running a hand through his fiery locks and leans forward in the chair next to Dick's bed. "I should have been here to help him."

"You had no idea…hell, none of us did. Dick's not the kind to ask for help." Roy states, looking over at their unconscious friend. "How the hell did he get kidnapped if all of his brothers are here?"

"Who knows…they don't really get along…they were probably too busy fighting to realize what happened." Wally drawls, glancing over to the redheaded female in the room. "You didn't have to come all the way here, Kory." The Tamaranean glares at him irritatedly.

"Of course I did! He would do the same to for me…besides…I owe him." Roy rolls his eyes.

"Who doesn't?" Conner frowns, shifting on his feet uncomfortably.

"It's too quiet…" The gingers glance at him curiously. "The last time I was here, Tim and Damian wouldn't stop screaming at each other. But now…it's almost as if they're getting along." Everyone pauses before laughing hysterically.

"Yeah right!" Wally snorts before he pales. "Oh no…that means…"

"They're planning something." Roy finishes, his eyes narrowing. "No doubt the Demon is in charge. This isn't good."

"Should we get Bruce involved?" Clark asks, taking a step forward. Everyone gives him a blank look.

"Are you insane? Bruce will be all over our asses if they  _aren't_ planning something. He's super protective of his birds." Roy states, crossing his arms. "We need a plan before they come up with one."

"Good luck with that." Conner snorts, leaning against the wall. "With the Demon running the show, we're all screwed."

* * *

Several hours later, they all freeze when Damian walks in calmly and takes one of the empty seats next to the bed. The gingers stare at him suspiciously as the bird proceeds to ignore them, focusing solely on his brother.

"Any change?" The smallest bird asks no one in particular.

"No. His vitals are good and he's still sleeping like a baby." Wally answers, eyeing him carefully. "How are things with you and Tim? I take it Jason is long gone by now…" Damian gets back up silently, and walks back out as the rest stare after him. "Alright…that was weird…he was probably scoping us out to see how many of us are left!" Roy scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"Or maybe he was just checking on his brother. The kid's creepy, but we all know he actually cares about Dick." Wally nods slowly, frowning after the young bird. Something just didn't seem right…

* * *

Damian sits down next to Tim in the study. "Most of the other Leaguers are gone. It's only the Kents, West, Harper, and the Tamaranean." Tim nods, opening up his laptop and starts to type quickly.

"Are you sure we should go through with this? If Bruce finds out…"

"He won't."

"But he has ways of finding out."

"Tt. You worry too much, Drake. I've already taken out Father's security cameras and recorders around the manor. I made sure he has a rather large workload at Wayne Enterprises today and won't be home for some time."

"But what if he comes back to check on Dick?"

"He is monitoring Grayson's condition on his computer at work." Tim raises an eyebrow.

"You've really thought this through…"

"Tt. Of course. I don't come up with halfassed plans. I make sure the variables are in my favor."

"Lil' Demon." Tim grumbles, focusing back on the screen of his computer.

"Is Todd in position?"

"Last I heard from him, he had all the pieces in place." Damian smirks.

"Then you know what to do." With that, the ex-assassin gets up and walks out briskfully as Tim sighs heavily.

"I just hope this works." He mumbles, hitting the 'Enter' key.

* * *

Wally leans back in his chair, about to fall asleep, when his comm link starts going off, causing him to jump, toppling out of his chair. The remaining gingers snicker as the speedster glares up at them. He activates his comm link, still glaring at his comrades.

"This is Flash. What's up?" The other heroes in the room frown as well, their comms going off as well.

"Flash! We've been trying to get a hold of you for hours! There was something blocking the signal." Wonder Woman exclaims from Watchtower.

"That's weird…we've just been sitting here…everything was quiet after you left Dick yesterday."

"There's been an incident. Someone hacked into the Watchtower computer and tripped all of the alarms. Watchtower is on lockdown and everyone who's in here is trapped!" Wally frowns, glancing over at Roy, Kory, Conner, and Clark, who were all talking quickly into their comm links.

"Is everyone being contacted on this matter?"

"Everyone has been informed, yes. However, there has been other incidents as well. Star, Central, and Jump City has been attacked as well as Metropolis. It seem to be an organized group. They were all hit simultaneously by the major players in each city. In other words, you're needed back in Central." Wally's eyes widen as Clark and Conner rush out of the room, followed quickly by Roy and Kory.

"My God…that Demon did this!"

"What are you talking about?" Wonder Woman asks curiously.

"Damian! He organized this whole thing!"

"….Wally….I know everyone has had their doubts, but Damian has proven himself as a hero. There's no way he would be behind all of this."

"He's just doing this so he can have Richard all to himself!"

"Do you understand how insane that sounds? Head back to Central. Count Vertigo is on a rampage." Wally sighs irritatedly, clicking his comm off.

"That little bastard. This means war." He grumbles before speeding off.

* * *

Damian smirks, watching all of the heroes rush off to save the day. It worked like a charm. He steps out of the shadows of the Batcave and heads over to the Batcomputer. Jason limps over to him, having just returned on his motorcycle. "The Tights Brigade gone?"

"Yes. Excellent work in rounding up all of those villains." Jason shrugs, leaning against the chair. "I suppose you  _are_  useful for something."

"It was nothing. They all owe me a favor." Damian raises an eyebrow. "Eh…don't ask. I don't want Bruce to have  _more_  reason to hate me."

"Father doesn't hate you. He merely doesn't agree with your methods."

"Whatever. If he finds out what all of us did today, there's going to be major hell to pay."

"Drake was the only one at fault here. He hacked Watchtower. You merely had a conversation with a few old friends." Jason smirks, crossing his arms.

"I like the way you think."

"Don't get too comfortable, Todd. I still have every intention on crushing you and Drake. I merely required your assistance to get rid of the vultures." The rouge rolls his eyes before hobbling over to the elevator.

"Sure, kid. Because Dickie Bird is going to chose  _you_  out of all of the other friends he has." Damian spins around in the chair, glaring murderously at his older brother.

"He will. I'm the better choice as a partner. We work the best together, and he knows that I am fully capable of handling myself."

"Ah, but you forget. You're a  _child_."

"I'm fourteen!"

"Still a child in the Golden Boy's eyes. You'll never be his equal." Damian growls, lunging at the already wounded rogue. Alfred walks down just in time to see the young teen tackle Jason to the ground.

"My word!" They both look up at him like a deer in headlights before Jason shoves the bird off.

"I need more alcohol. Does Bruce keep his stash in the same place, Alf?"

"I do not believe he would allow me to answer that."

"I'll take that as a yes. And you may want to discipline your  _pets_  properly." Jason sneers, glaring at Damian, before limping over to the elevator. Damian fumes, shaking with rage.

"I shall get the training dummies ready." Alfred states, heading off to go get the gym set up.


	11. Planning

Bruce stares at his computer intently in his office at Wayne Enterprises, checking Dick's vitals for the hundredth time that day. He sighs heavily, glancing at the mountain of paperwork on his desk and groans internally. It was going to take a couple more hours, at least, to finish everything. Why did work have to be so busy on the day he wanted to leave early to check on his son? He grabs a small stack of the papers irritatedly, setting them in front of himself to start trying to shrink the mountain. Just as he picks up his pen to start the dreaded paperwork, his cell phone rings. His eyes narrow as he fishes it out of his pocket and checks the caller ID.

"Damn Boyscout." He grumbles before answering the call. "This had better be important."

"Bruce! Has Diana gotten a hold of you? Your comm link isn't working." Clarks' anxious voice reverberates through the other line.

"She called me for the codes to Watchtower. Something about a malfunction."

"What? She told you it was a  _malfunction_? Someone hacked Watchtower and set off all of the alarms!"

"Did you find the hacker?"

"We tracked the signal back to your manor! Meaning it was one of your birds. Not to mention the fact that there were attacks in Metropolis, Jump, Star, and Central! Has there been any attacks in Gotham?" Bruce frowns, spinning around in his leather swivel chair to look out at his city.

"Interesting…Gotham has been quiet...however, that means the League is no longer in my manor?"

"Well…just your sons, but-" A slow smirk makes its way onto Bruce's face.

"I see. Well, I don't know what happened with the Watchtower. It was probably just a fluke or something."

"You know it had to have been Damian or Tim! They're the only ones who-"

"Look, Clark. I have a lot of work to do, and clearly I'm not needed for any crisis. Call me when something actually important happens."

"You're just going to let them get away with this? They hacked into our  _base_ , Bruce! And organized the criminals to attack at the same time!"

"Now you're starting to sound like West. Tim and Damian would never organize a group of criminals."

"Then Jason would have! And what about the hacking!"

"I hardly see what the problem is. Clearly no harm was done to the base. It merely proves that we need to increase security. As for the criminals…apparently you and the others should stop spending your time eating my food and more time patrolling your cities." With that, the billionaire hangs up, smirking to himself. The little plan his birds hatched was cleaver. He slips his phone into his pocket before getting up, and slipping his coat on. The Dark Knight walks out of his office, glancing over to his assistant. "I'll finish the paperwork tomorrow. Dick got into a motorcycle accident and is recovering back home. I want to go check on him."

"Oh my! Of course, Mr. Wayne! If I can help in any way, just let me know!" The short burnet states sincerely, having seen Dick grow up. When Dick was younger, he used to visit Bruce at work all the time, and she would always help babysit if Bruce had a meeting. The billionaire smiles at her politely, nodding.

"Thank you so much. If you can cancel my meeting in Dubai next week, it would be much appreciated Tracy."

"Consider it done!" She starts typing on her computer quickly as he beams gratefully before heading for the door. He had to have a little chat with his birds.

* * *

Wally paces around Roy's living room, his brow furrowed as Roy sighs heavily. "You're going to wear a hole in my carpet." The archer grumbles, sitting down on his sofa.

"We have to come up with a plan! You know Damian came up with that plan…all of the birds are so damn possessive of Dick…but we knew him first!"

"I know…but we can't prove anything…the Demon is very good at hiding his tracks."

"Exactly! This is why we need to get even!"

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Wally frowns, flopping down on the sofa next to Roy.

"No idea…we should get Kory and Kon though…at least then it'll be four against three." Wally nods in agreement, whipping out his phone.

"Hopefully they'll have some ideas too."

"Yes, because you're not one for planning." The speedster glares over at his best friend.

"I come up with plenty of plans!" Roy rolls his eyes.

" _Sure_  you do. Just get Kory and Kon over here."

"Fine." Wally pouts, dialing their fellow heroes.

* * *

Dick stirs slowly in the infirmary, looking around the white sterile room. He frowns, trying to sit up, but Alfred hovers over the acrobat, gently pushing the Bat's the firm chest back down on the bed.

"I am sorry Master Dick, but you're not well enough to get up just yet." Dick sighs, rubbing his aching head.

"What happened? And where's Slade?"

"Well, Master Bruce brought you back here after you blacked out from your injuries. He then took care of Deathstroke."

"What about Damian, Tim, and Jason?"

"I believe they had a hand in bringing Deathstroke in. At the moment, however, they are upstairs. Your friends in the Justice League were here earlier to visit as well." Dick frowns, shifting in the bed uncomfortably.

"They were all here? I didn't want them to know I was injured."

"You have Master Clark to thank for that." The acrobat groans in annoyance.

" _Perfect_."

"I also believe you have quite a number of suitors after you as of late." Dick blinks, before looking up at Alfred, confused.

"What?"

"There was quite a brawl over your attention by not only the Young Masters, but members of the League as well." Dick's cheeks flush and he looks away.

"N-No I don't! They're just really friendly! And freaking out because I'm injured!" Alfred's mouth twitches upward slightly.

"Whatever you say, Master Dick. Shall I get you something to eat?" Dick nods, his cheeks glowing darker. He shrinks back in bed as his stomach growls loudly in the silent room.

"Yes please." He states quietly, fidgeting with the blankets on the bed.

"I'll go make your favorite then." With that, Alfred disappears out the door as Dick pulls the covers over his head. Everyone wasn't fighting over him…were they?

* * *

Bruce walks into the kitchen, setting his briefcase down on the counter and glances over at his birds, who freeze instantly upon seeing him. "Are the uninvited house guests still here?" He asks no one in particular.

"No. They left several hours ago." Tim states, not making eye contact with his adoptive father.

"I see…" Bruce glances back at them knowingly. "At least my food supply is safe now that West is no longer devouring everything in sight." He grabs a bottle of water, closes the fridge, then turns to face his sons, who were all looking in different direction. "Just make sure they can't track your signal next time." He states before walking off, no doubt to head downstairs to check on Dick. The birds tense, all looking at each other.

"He knows!" Tim cries out, covering his face with his hands. "We're so DEAD! Why did we let you talk us into this, Damian?"

"Tt. You're overreacting, Drake. Yes, Father knows. Clearly, he doesn't care." Damian grumbles, physically relaxing slightly. Jason notices, and smirks.

"Ha. You thought he was going to chew us out!" Damian glares over at him.

"Of course I did! If we had not done it for Grayson's best interest, we would have been in trouble. It was my idea, so I would have been taken off patrol!" Jason snickers, rolling his eyes.

"You care too much what he thinks."

"You don't care enough. You're only here because you can't say no to Dick's kicked puppy face." Tim mumbles, rejoining the conversation. They all jump when the familiar butler appears seemingly out of nowhere in front of them.

"If you are quiet done arguing, would you all assist me in making Master Dick's dinner? He is awake and rather famished." The three instantly perk up, hopping out of their seats, awaiting orders. "Since Master Dick had lasagna recently, why don't we make him his other favorite meal?" They all nod in agreement, ready to assist in any way possible. Alfred always knew how to quickly brake up arguments.


	12. Family Bonding

Bruce takes off his tie on his way downstairs to visit his eldest son. He frowns, noticing Dick staring down at the sheets, a forlorn look on his face. Upon his entrance to the room, Dick raises his head to look at his father in acknowledgement, then stares back down at the bed. Bruce takes his blazer off, setting it down in the chair, before sitting on the side of the bed next to his son.

"Dick…there's nothing to be ashamed of." The acrobat grips the sheets tightly, his eyes watering in frustration.

"I gave in…you trained me not to brake…and he…" Dick looks up at Bruce, hot, angry tears sliding down his cheeks. "I almost killed Damian!"

"But you didn't…Dick, you can't expect to be strong all the time…you were already injured. He caught you at a bad time." Dick sniffles, looking up at him sadly.

"Bruce…you don't need to baby me…I know I fucked up…I should have never cracked. I know better than that!" Bruce pulls Dick into an awkward hug, trying to comfort him. Dick brakes down into frustrated sobs, clutching his father's shirt, snuggling closer to the billionaire.

"It's not your fault. Don't ever think less of yourself, Son."

"What the hell did you do?" Damian exclaims furiously, glaring at Bruce and the sobbing Bat in his arms. Bruce glances back, seeing his remaining sons sending him a dirty look while Tim holds a tray of food. The original Bat's eyes narrow as he hugs Dick closer defensively.

"Nothing." He grumbles. "You three should be getting ready for patrol. I'll be staying here to finish some paperwork."

"Whatever. You're just going to stay here so you can molest the Golden Boy." Jason sneers, crossing his arms. Dick's eyes widen as he sniffles, looking up at Bruce questioningly. Bruce glares back at Jason darkly.

"I should put you back in Arkham. You should be lucky I am allowing you to walk freely around my house." Jason frowns, looking away irritatedly.

"Are you going to hog Grayson all night, or are you going allow him to eat?" Damian snaps, crossing his arms. Bruce sighs in slight annoyance, letting go of his son. Dick scoots back in bed, wincing slightly from his broken ribs and looks up at his brothers. He sniffles, rubbing his eyes, trying to hide the fact that he was crying. The tension in the air intently melts, seeing their brother genuinely upset. Tim was instantly beside him, inconspicuously pushing Bruce out of the way as he sets the tray down on the bedside table. Damian appears on his other side as Jason shifts on his feet awkwardly, unsure what to do.

"What's wrong? Did someone say something to you?" Tim asks, grabbing a tissue to help him dry the acrobat's eyes. Damian slaps Tim's hand away, snatching the Kleenex.

"He can do it himself, Drake." Damian mutters, while gently dabbing the wetness off of the acrobat's cheeks. Dick looks up at Damian guiltily, before his eyes start to water all over again.

"I'm so sorry, Dami…I failed you…I almost killed you because of that bastard. I should have been strong enough to fight him." Damian frowns, holding his hand out for another tissue. Tim hands him one, shifting closer to his older brother.

"Tt. Don't be stupid, Dick. It was Wilson's fault. May he die a slow and torturous death." Damian hisses threateningly. Dick blinks, sniffling as he takes the tissue from the youngest bird.

"You called me Dick…" A slow, goofy smile spreads across his face as the birds' and the original Dark Knight's mood lightens.

"It was a slip of the tongue." Damian mutters, flushing slightly.

" _Sure_ it was." Dick smirks, ruffling the ex-assassin's hair. Now that the tension was successfully cleared, Tim reaches for the tray he was carrying earlier. He takes the lid off of the plate, revealing a homemade, personal size, alfredo pizza with extra cheese. Dick's eyes instantly flick over to the delicious meal , the aroma filling the small room.

"Alfred helped us make it for you." Tim states, cutting the pizza to make it easier for his injured brother to eat.

"You guys didn't have to go through all the trouble to make it fresh! There's a good pizza place not too far from here." Dick states, taking the plate that Tim was holding out to him.

"Just shut up and eat the damn pizza." Jason mutters, leaning against the doorframe. "You need to eat so that you can get better." Dick beams up at him warmly.

"You  _do_  care!"

"Do not. These two won't shut up until you're better." Dick smirks knowingly, picking up a slice.

"I know you care, deep down Jay." He chimes happily, taking a bite of the pizza. The acrobat beams at the taste, taking another bite. "Holy crap! You guys really outdid yourselves! This is fantastic!" Before Tim could respond, he shrinks back, feeling Bruce's dark shadow looming over him.

"The Joker, Harley, Freeze and Ivy just escaped Arkham. Suit up and head out. Dick, you stay here." The three birds pout ever so slightly before heading off to change. Dick looks up at Bruce curiously, noticing the fact that he made no move to get dressed into his Batsuit.

"You're not going." He states, frowning slightly. "Why? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No. Someone needs to stay here to make sure you're safe." Dick rolls his eyes, taking another bite of pizza.

"You're being ridiculous. I'll be fine."

"I'm not taking any chances. The last time you were left by yourself, Slade kidnapped you. I won't let anything like that happen again." Dick sighs heavily, shifting in the bed to give Bruce room to sit. He turns the flat screen TV on, grinning.

"The Godfather is on. Since you're not doing anything…" Dick glances at him knowingly. Bruce smirks ever so slightly, sitting down next to his son.

"I'll have Alfred bring us some popcorn later."

"Sounds perfect."

* * *

Wally and Kon meet up with Kory and Roy on the outskirts of Gotham City. The speedster grins mischievously, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "Joker and Harley are free. Who did you guys get out?"

"Freeze and Ivy." Roy states boredly. "If Bats finds out that we were the ones who broke them out, he'll have our heads." Wally waves his hand dismissively.

"He won't find out." Kory frowns, crossing her arms.

"He's Bats. He  _always_  finds out."

"Maybe he'll be too distracted…I mean, with those four on the loose, all of the Batfamily aside from Dick will be running around Gotham all night." Kon states.

"We'll worry about that later. Now…let's go visit Dick!" Wally exclaims, running off to Wayne manor. Roy rolls his eyes, sighing heavily.

"Why do I feel like this is a bad idea?"

"Probably because Wally planned most of it." Kon states, starting to head off after the speedster.


	13. Busted

Just over halfway through the movie, Bruce sets the empty popcorn bowl on the bedside table and glances over at his son. Dick was curled up and fast asleep, his head rested comfortably on his father's broad shoulder as his hand unconsciously clutched Bruce's shirt, keeping the original Bat close. Bruce smiles fondly, pulling the blankets snugly around his son. Before he could get comfortable, the alarms in the Batcave start to go off. Bruce frowns instantly, slipping out from the bed, much to Dick's unconscious protests, and heads over to the Batcomputer. His eyes narrow, the computer recognizing the intruders. The Flash soon appears behind him, peering into the infirmary window.

"Just what do you think you're doing here without permission, West?" Bruce nearly growls, turning to face the speedster. Wally freezes, slowly looking back at the Bat in horror.

"B-Bats! I thought you were out fighting the baddies…heard there was a jail break at Arkham." Roy, Conner, and Kory make their appearance as well, tensing when they see the Bat in less than a pleased mood.

"And just how did you know about the jail break? I don't recall giving that information to the League. The news hasn't even reported it yet." Bruce states, starting to walk up to the terrified speedster. The other three heroes glare over at Wally for giving himself away.

"I-uh….I saw them on my way here." The Bat's eyes narrow dangerously.

"I'm sure you did." He towers over Wally, his dark aura filling the entire cave, causing the ginger's knees to quiver. " _You_  four helped them escape."

"We didn't-"

"I wasn't finished, West. I don't like being interrupted." Wally gulps, trying to take a step back, only to realize that there was a wall behind him. "You four organized this in order to have my son to yourselves. And just  _who_ gave you permission to fuck with  _my_  city?"

"I….We didn't release them!" Wally tries, but he shrinks back at the dark glare he received.

"I don't tolerate lying." Bruce shifts his glare towards the other heroes, not missing the fact that Conner just hung up his phone. "You four will be cleaning the Batcave for the next four years. With your own toothbrushes. If you use anything else, I will make it ten years. If there is a speck of dirt when you finish, I will add two more years. You will also have the graveyard shift at the Watchtower for the next five years. You four are also not allowed in Gotham unless cleaning the Cave. No, you are not allowed in the manor, and will not be fed by Alfred. You will also clean out Killer Crocs' cell in Arkham. Without protective gear and while he is still in there. And to top it all off, you four are not to see Dick unless I say so." Bruce smirks darkly as the four heroes stare up at him in horror. "Good luck getting my permission after the stunt you pulled."

"What about Damian? You know he was the one who released our city's villains!" Roy rages, balling a fist. "Are they not being punished?"

"Why do you think I made them take care of the mess you made by themselves?" Bruce states, crossing his arms. They stare up at him in shock.

"That's  _it_? That's hardly fair!" Roy hisses, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh, it's plenty fair. I don't care what they do in other cities. You four, however, brought my city into this. And you did not do it for my son's best interest."

"You-" Roy starts, only to be cut off by someone no one expected.

"Bruce. You're taking this too far." Superman states, frowning at his best friend. The billionaire stiffens in annoyance, not liking the fact that so many heroes were in his cave without permission.

"This is none of your business, Clark."

"It  _is_  my business when you're trying to punish my son for something he didn't even want to do." Bruce scoffs, striding up to the Boyscout.

"He went along with it just fine. I find it highly amusing how  _now,_  of all times, you decide to try to be his father." Clark's eyebrows knit as he crosses his arms.

"I've always thought of him as a son. I may not have had him for very long, but I'm a better father than you. I don't punish him for no reason!" Bruce barks out a laugh, the aura in the cave darkening further much to the four young heroes' dismay.

"I find it amusing how  _you_  of all people are criticizing my parenting skills. It took you  _years_  to think of Conner as anything other than a cheap copy of yourself. Who was it who had to train him at first? Oh, that was me. Who was it who had to convince you to see him as the son you will probably never have since you're too much of a pussy to propose to Lois? Oh, right. That was me again. I may not be father of the year, but at least I've never straight out shunned one of my own." Clark stares at his best friend in shock before his eyes narrow dangerously.

"At least I don't have a damn stick up my ass  _all_  of the time! My son can actually talk to me about his issues instead of fighting for my acceptance. That's all your sons ever do! Fight for your affection, but you only give it to Richard! Why else do you think they are always fighting over his attention? Because he's the only one who gives a damn about them!"

"I give more of a damn about them than you do! All you care about is Lois's ass and the fact that she will never love  _Clark Kent_!" Bruce roars. Clark growls, about to throw a punch as the billionaire reaches for the kryptonite he always kept on him. Before any of them could get a blow off, Wonder Woman steps between them, catching each of their arms.

"Enough. I heard the whole thing on your comm links." Bruce huffs, yanking his arm free from the Amazon as Clark does much of the same. Diana rolls her eyes, glancing at the four young heroes who were frozen in place from the near apocalyptic fight. "Go home before he decides to add anything else to your punishment. You should have known better." They nod slowly, filing out of the cave dejectedly. The Amazon then focuses her attention back on the founding members of the League. "And you two need to stop arguing about your parenting styles. Clark, you can't expect Bruce to be all warm and fuzzy. It's just never going to happen." Bruce smirks triumphantly as Clark pouts slightly. Before Diana could reprimand the Bat, the three freeze, hearing a crash come from the infirmary room that Dick was in. They rush into the room so quickly that it would make the Flash cry and stare as Dick sits on the floor, pouting cutely. He hears the intrusion and looks over to the heroes curiously. Upon seeing Bruce, his eyes light up, and he tries getting up, only to fall as soon as he puts pressure on his left, broken, leg.

"Daddy!" Dick cries out, his cheeks flushed bright red as he holds his hands out to Bruce. The billionaire rushes up to his son, feeling his forehead.

"You're burning up, Dick…Come on…let's get you back to bed." Bruce tries to haul Dick up, but the acrobat giggles, wiggling around. Dick catches sight of Diana and shoots her a blinding grin.

"Mommy!" He looks up at Bruce hopefully. "Daddy! Can Mommy read me a story?" Diana blushes, looking away as Bruce stares at Dick in shock.

"Sure, Honey." The Amazon answers, saving Bruce from having to crush Dick's hopes. She walks over to them, helping the Bat haul Dick back into bed. The acrobat beams happily, snuggling under the covers as Diana looks around for a book. Clark walks up to her, handing her one that he had just grabbed from the library upstairs. "Thanks." Superman nods before heading for the door, letting the two take care of the feverish acrobat. Diana settles down next to Dick in the bed, who instantly snuggles up next to her happily. She glances over to Bruce as she opens the book to begin reading. "You think one of his wounds are infected?"

"It's possible. I'll wait until he's asleep, then I'll check and redress all of his wounds." She nods.

"I'll stick around to help out." Bruce's lips twitch up slightly.

"Thank you." She smiles warmly up at Bruce, running her fingers through Dick's hair affectionately.

"Anytime."

* * *

The Joker cackles madly, dodging another bullet Jason had fired at him. "Stay still, you little bastard!" Jason hisses, reloading.

"And what fun would that be?" Joker pulls out a crowbar, giggling madly. "The fun is just about to begin. I take it you remember my little friend?" Red Hood stares at the weapon before growling in rage.

"Oh  _hell_  no!" He tackles the Clown Prince, ripping the crowbar from his grasp. "It's my turn to have fun this time." Harley gasps in horror.

"Get your grimy hands off Mistah J!" She pulls out a gun with a giant boxing glove attached at the end and fires it at Jason. The rogue hisses in pain as the boxing glove slams into his back, knocking him off of Joker. The Clown Prince cackles.

"Nice work, Harls!" She giggles happily.

"Anything for you, Puddin'!" Jason rolls his eyes.

"I think I'm going to puke." He whips out his pistol, shooting Harley in the leg as she shrieks in pain, falling to the ground. Jason then turns to Joker, puts the gun away, and starts playing with the crowbar in his hand. "My turn, freak. This is long overdue."

* * *

Damian pants exhaustedly, slicing yet another vine with his katana as Ivy smirks from her perch on the large Tiger Lily. "Why don't you ditch the Bat and join me? It's obvious that he can't take care of you like I can." She purrs, crossing her legs. Damian twitches in disgust, hacking his way through the vines that threatened to entangle him.

"Tt. Not likely, whore." She hisses at the nickname, sending more vines his way. He dives to the side before they could stab him, and tosses a birdarang at the base of her perch.

"You've already tried that, Bird Boy." Ivy drawls boredly, about to have one of her vines rip it out when the Tiger Lily suddenly starts to shrivel.

"I laced it with a high dose of weed killer." Damian smirks as Ivy glares at him hatefully.

"You little brat!" He runs up just as the plant was hitting the ground and roundhouse kicks her in the jaw. She stumbles back, and was about to send her spores at him, but he already had his gas mask on his face. Ivy hisses in annoyance before Damian kicks her in the stomach, then punches her in the face repeatedly, trying to knock her unconscious. It had already taken longer than he wanted.

* * *

Mr. Freeze fires another shot of his freeze ray, hitting yet another pillar as Tim dives out of the way. Tim waits in his hiding spot with baited breath, hearing Freeze pass. He quickly dives out of the shadowed corner and jumps on the top of the suit, jabbing a taser into the weak part of Freeze's suit. Mr. Freeze convulses before falling to the ground. Tim dashes back into the shadows as soon as the villain falls, knowing that the suit would quickly reboot. He sighs heavily, putting the taser away. It would only work once. Freeze gets back up, scanning the area for the bird.

"Cleaver, but your pathetic weapon will not work on me again, Boy Blunder." Tim curses under his breath as Freeze fires heat seeking missiles. He quickly pulls out a heated birdarang and throws it off to the side. While the missiles hit the birdarang, Tim runs up behind Freeze, and kicks the villain's legs out from under him. Just as the suit hits the ground, Tim sets some explosive putty on the kinks of Mr. Freeze's suit before jumping back. Victor Freeze curses, knowing what was coming just before the suit explodes. Tim sighs with relief, looking at the clock. He was hoping to have been home two hours ago.


	14. Fever

After Diana finished reading the story she looks down at Dick, expecting him to be asleep. She was surprised to see those deep sapphire eyes staring back up at her happily.

"Mommy? Can I have a cookie? The one that Granpie makes!" She looks up at Bruce in confusion.

"I think he means Alfred's cookies." Bruce states from the other side of the bed. Dick had demanded that he be in the bed with them as Diana read the story. The acrobat nods happily, looking over to Bruce pleadingly.

"Please can I have a cookie?" Bruce's willpower crumbles as he nods, getting up from the bed.

"I'll go get you some." Dick beams happily, lighting up the entire room with his smile.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Diana giggles, seeing Bruce smiling to himself as he heads out the door to find Alfred.

* * *

Jason, Tim, and Damian meet up at Arkham, each dropping off their catch of the evening. Tim raises an eyebrow, seeing Joker laying on the ground, chained, and a motionless, bloody mess. "Is he…?" Jason rolls his eyes.

"You can rest easy, Princess. He's alive. He just had a little accident with a crowbar. He just won't be walking for a while." Tim's eyes widen slightly.

"You didn't kill him?" Jason looks away irritatedly.

"I would never hear the end of it from Dick." Tim smirks knowingly.

"Well then. Why don't we go visit him?" He glances over at Damian, who was just as moody as ever. "And I'm sure you have some cuts and bruises that need tending to."

"Shut it, Drake. I can handle myself."

"You took down Ivy by yourself, Runt. That speaks for itself." Jason mutters, nudging Joker with his boot in disgust. Damian looks up at his older brother in shock from the compliment. Tim notices the guards coming to collect the villains not to mention the fact that Jason looked like he wanted to go a few more rounds with the Joker and decides to wrap things up.

"Let's get back home. With any luck, we can get back before Dick falls asleep again." They nod in agreement, all heading back to the manor.

* * *

The three birds arrive home just as Bruce walks into the infirmary with a plate of cookies. They follow after him curiously, and pause by the doorway to see just what was going on. Dick beams, giggling happily as Bruce hands him the plate of freshly baked cookies. "Alfred made these just for you." Bruce states, about to sit in the chair next to the bed. Dick frowns, tugging on his father's shirt to get him to sit in the bed as well. Bruce chuckles softly, obliging with his son's wishes.

"Thank you, Daddy!"

"You've brainwashed him now!" Damian rages from the doorway, storming in. Dick blinks, looking up at him curiously. He looks from him to Bruce, tugging on his father's sleeve lightly to get his attention.

"Who's dat? Can we play with him?" Bruce nods, before sending Damian a warning look.

"That's your brother, Damian." Dick stares at Damian, deep in thought.

"Dami…." He looks down at the cookies before holding them up to his younger brother. "Cookie?" Damian eyes him skeptically.

"What's wrong with him, Father? Can he be fixed?" Bruce sighs as Dick gives Damian a devastated look. Jason walks in and smacks the back of the youngest bird's head.

"Now you hurt his feelings."

"Since when do  _you_  care, Todd?" Damian hisses. He stiffens, hearing a small whimper coming from the bed. Everyone looks to the source, to see Dick staring down at the covers, trying to hold back tears. The temperature of the room instantly turns cold and Damian twitches at the frigid glares he receives from the rest of the Batfamily.

"Why does Dami hate me? Did I do something wrong?" Tim was instantly by his side, taking his hand comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Dickie. Dami hates everyone. Don't worry about him. We all love you." Dick sniffles, looking up at Tim hopefully.

"Really?" Tim nods, as Dick's expression brightens. The newest Bat looks from Tim to the plate of cookies, then holds the plate up to his younger brother. "Cookie?" Tim smiles warmly, taking the warm, gooey treat.

"Can I have one too, Dickie Bird?" Jason asks, smirking as he approaches his older brother. Dick nods happily.

"Cookies for all!"

"Except Damian." Jason mutters, smirking around his cookie. Damian was about to growl under his breath, but thinks better of it when he sees the vicious glare he receives from Tim and Bruce. Dick pauses nibbling on a cookie and frowns slightly, looking up at Diana.

"Mommy…" She looks down at him, also frowning at how pale he was getting. She quickly exchanges a look with Bruce, who instantly checks the monitors for Dick's vitals. "I don feel so good…" The acrobat slurs before his eyes roll back and he collapses back on the bed as the heart monitor starts going erratic. Bruce curses, jumping out of the bed and rips the covers off of his son. Diana jumps off as well, helping Bruce start to take off the bandages. She works on the left arm while Bruce works on the right. He glances up at his birds, his eyes stern and commanding.

"Help take the bandages off. He has an infection and we have to find out where. It's spreading faster than we anticipated. Damian, go get the penicillin." Damian nods, running over to the cabinets to get the medication. Jason whips out two knives and tosses one to Tim, who catches it and starts cutting off the bandages on Dick's chest while Jason works on his older brother's left leg. Damian quickly returns with the medication, handing the vile and a syringe to his father. Bruce gets the syringe ready before injecting it into Dick's IV. Diana gasps lightly, looking at the yellow puss seeping out of the blackened skin on Dick's forearm. Bruce's eye catches what she was looking at and nods in acknowledgement. "Boys, help hold him down. I'm going to have to scrub the wounds clean." The birds nod sadly, getting into position. Jason holds down Dick's legs as the other two each grab an arm and shoulder. Bruce grabs the scrubber and fills a basin with hot water and soap before returning to his son's bedside. He makes eye contact with Diana, who was trying to hold back her tears. "Why don't you head upstairs? I'm sure Alfred needs help cleaning up."

"Of course." She states quietly. The Amazon kisses Dick's forehead lovingly before disappearing out the door. Bruce nods to his sons, and picks up the scrub brush, wincing slightly.

"I'm sorry." He whispers before starting to roughly scrub the infected wound, trying to clean it. Dick screams in agony, starting to thrash violently. The bird tighten their grip, also apologizing quietly the more Dick screams.

* * *

Diana returns later with a tray full of hot chocolate for everyone and peers into the infirmary. Dick was unconscious with an oxygen mask over his mouth as Bruce dresses Dick's burns as Damian, Jason, and Tim hover around just in case they were needed. They all glance over to her as she walks in, smiling sadly. "How is he doing?" Bruce sighs, finishing up bandaging Dick's wounds.

"He still has a high fever, but other than that, his vitals have stabilized." The Amazonian Princess nods, walking up to the slumbering Bat and sets the tray down on the table. She runs her hand through his hair comfortingly.

"He's going to be alright….right, Bruce?" Bruce nods.

"Yes…it may take longer than we expected, but he'll recover." He looks to the other birds before looking up at the princess. "Why don't you spend the night? It's clear that you're worried about him and we have plenty of space." She smiles warmly.

"I'd like that." The two leave the room as Damian gags, rolling his eyes.

"Father is distracted with the Amazon here. It's up to us to keep Grayson safe." Tim raises an eyebrow, walking over to the tray to get a mug of hot chocolate.

"Safe from what? The bats?" Jason snorts, taking one of the steaming mugs.

"He has a point, Runt." Damian crosses his arms.

"Clearly the League knows that Grayson is injured. West, Kent, Harper, and the Tamaranian are not the only ones we have to worry about it. There are plenty of more annoyances in the League. Not to mention the villains are bound to be suspicious. Batman has not been patrolling. They know something is wrong."

"You're being paranoid." Jason drawls, rolling his eyes. "Bruce has made sure that no one comes here uninvited anymore." The alarms in the Batcave suddenly blare, causing the three birds to suddenly tense. Damian smirks smugly.

"Who's paranoid now?"


	15. Bat vs Steel

The three birds were surprised to see a flash of red and blue enter the cave. Apparently Clark wanted to go another round with Bruce. Jason rolls his eyes as the Man of Steel was followed by Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary. The birds weren't expecting the rest of the original seven to break into the cave. Clark glances back at the martian curiously.

"I heard that you have some healing abilities. Do you think you can help him, Jon?" The martian follows Clark into the Infirmary eying the Bat's prone form.

"I cannot heal him completely at the moment. I will have to heal him in sessions throughout the week." Clark nods.

"Do it." Damian raises an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you discuss this with Father?" Clark waves his hand dismissively.

"I know he'll agree, so it's no big deal."

"I have no doubts that he will agree. However, I don't think he will appreciate you breaking into his cave yet again."

"I'm sure he won't mind." Jason snorts at Clark's dismissive attitude.

"It's your funeral, Boyscout."

"He's with Diana. They'll be busy for a while." Dinah drawls, walking into the room with Oliver, John, and Shayera. Jason shifts uncomfortably at the amount of people in the small room. He twitches in annoyance as Shayera's wings keep nudging him. One smacks him in the face and he growls, swatting it away.

"Ugh. I'm getting out of here." He grumbles, storming out. Tim snickers, having seen the whole exchange. Dick stirs slightly, muttering something incoherent before pulling the covers up higher. Dinah sighs sadly, helping tuck him in as he shivers.

"How did this happen anyway?" Damian and Tim grow silent, looking away under her scrutinizing gaze.

"Grenade." Damian mutters, crossing his arms. Shayera moves to Dick's bedside as well, standing on the other side of the bed. Dick's eyes crack open and he looks up at the female heroes curiously. He smiles up at them warmly, squirming in the bed, no doubt wanting to get up. The women giggle, sitting down in the chairs next to the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Dinah asks, helping Dick sit up in the bed.

" 'M alright…Bruce gave me some  _wonderful_  drugs." He slurs before bursting into a fit of giggles, glancing over at Shayera. "Your wings are SO FUZZY!" The women join him in laughter, cooing over him. Damian rolls his eyes as Clark starts to push the martian forward.

"You should probably start healing him before Jason tells Bruce that we're here."

"He's going to find out, anyway. He's  _Bruce_." Tim states, leaning out of the way as the two men pass. Oliver looks to John curiously.

"Why do women always fawn over Dick?" John shrugs.

"You're just jealous, Queen." Oliver's eyes narrow slightly.

"Am not!" John just smirks knowingly, not missing the way the archer kept glancing over to Dinah who was still gushing over the fallen Bat. Just as Jon finally makes his way up to Dick, about to start healing him, they all jump, hearing a very familiar voice clear their throat. They slowly turn around to find a very agitated looking Bruce standing in the doorway.

"And just  _what_  do you all think you're doing here?" Clark straightens up slightly, deciding to speak up for everyone.

"Since Dick isn't doing too well, I thought it would be best if Jon healed him." Bruce raises an eyebrow.

"Who says Dick isn't doing well?"

"Well, judging by how his wounds got infected, clearly he isn't being properly taken care of." Bruce's jaw tightens at the jab.

"It was no one's fault that it got infected. He could have gotten it from anywhere. He probably hasn't been getting enough rest either because all of you decided that you can visit him whenever it is convenient for you."

"He is a part of our family too! We watched him grow up!"

"He is  _my_  son!"

"You didn't even legally adopt him until he was what, twenty? You adopted Tim so much younger than you ever did Dick. You have always pushed him away. Especially after the whole Renegade thing! He would have  _died_  if I hadn't dragged your sorry ass to Blüdhaven!" Bruce clenches a fist as the other heroes in the room cower back slightly, sensing the death aura radiating from the Bat.

"That was a mistake. It was a bad time for all of us, and I thought he could handle himself. Renegade was my fault. I know that. But I have made  _damn_  sure that nothing like that happens again."

"Oh, really? You always criticize  _my_  parenting skills, but your sons turned out worse than mine! Jason is a criminal and Damian is a demon to say the least! You only pay attention to Dick because you feel guilty about how you treated him in the past. It's clear that Tim is your favorite. Now, just step aside and let  _us_  take care of one of our own. Dick is a member of the League, after all."

"You little SHIT! What gives you the right to come into  _my home_  and talk about my sons this way? At least I have never been so careless as to let my arch enemy get some of my DNA and create a clone without my knowledge! How can you even call Conner your son? I did all the hard work. You only started taking care of him after all of his emotional issues were settled. You never take missions that don't directly involve any villains from Metropolis or are too risky. It just proves what a spineless coward you really are." Clark's eyes narrow dangerously.

"I take any mission that is given to me!"

"Bullshit. You throw a bitch fit if you don't get the missions you want. Why do you think no one invites you to the meetings anymore? All you talk about is finding a way to get Lex Luther. We have bigger problems than Lex! It's not our fault that you can't get over that fact that he cloned you with a part of his DNA." Bruce smirks viciously. "Tell me, how does it feel having a love child with the man you hate the most?" Clark growls with anger, throwing a punch, but Bruce swiftly dodges out of the way. The Bat flicks the shard of kryptonite out of his pocket and into his hand as he punches Clark in the face. Oliver and John quickly jump into action, trying to stop the fight before someone got seriously injured. Clark wipes the blood from his mouth, about to lunge at Bruce again, but Green Lantern grabs his arms, pinning them back. Green Arrow grabs Bruce's arms as well, trying to drag him away from the struggling Kryptonian. Dick sits up in the bed more and frowns over at the two.

"Stop fighting! Why does it always have to end in an argument with you two?" Dick states, his head clearing from the rather large dose of pain killers Bruce had given him several hours prior. "Bruce. Clark had a good idea for Jon to heal me. Yes, he came uninvited, but he had my best intentions at heart. And Clark, you can't keep criticizing Bruce's parenting skills. You know he goes into protective mode and will probably maim you in your sleep. Sure, his methods may have not been the most traditional, but I'd like to think we turned out alright." He smiles up at the softly as Bruce and Clark stop struggling. Oliver and John release the two heroes who looks away from each other irritatedly.

"Just don't stay too long. Dick needs his rest." Bruce mumbles before trudging out of the room. Tim stares after him in shock. He had never seen anyone break up one of their infamous fights before. Dick had no idea how much power he had over people. He glances back over to his brother, who was making himself comfortable in the bed as Jon hovers over him.

"This may be a little unpleasant." The martian states, holding his hands over the acrobat. Dick shrugs.

"Eh. I've probably had worse in the last few days. It's no biggie. Thanks for doing this, by the way." Jon nods.

"As Clark has said. You are family." Dick beams up at him warmly.

"Likewise. I'm so grateful to have such a warm and caring family."

"We all will always be there for you, Dick." Tim adds, smiling warmly. Dick returns the smile, leaning back in bed as Jon starts to heal him.


	16. Is It Hot In Here, Or Is It Just Me?

Damian frowns, looking from Dick's unconscious form back to the clock. It had been four hours.  _Four_  stressful hours since Martian Manhunter attempted to heal the acrobat. At first, the treatment started out alright. But after thirty minutes, once he started working on the burns, things started to take a turn for the worst. Dick had started thrashing in agony since the wound was still so raw. Jon immediately stopped healing him, saying that it was too dangerous to continue. They would have to wait at least another week before he could start healing him again. Shortly after the ordeal, Dick had passed out once again.

"It's four in the morning…you should probably go get some sleep. I'll take over." Tim states as he walks back in, frowning over at Damian.

"I'm fine." Damian snaps, glancing back up at the clock. Tim sighs heavily, sitting next to him.

"You look exhausted." Damian continues to ignore the older bird, setting his sights back on Dick.

"He hasn't awoken yet."

"He's been through a lot...he needs rest to get better." Dick finally stirs, groaning as he rubs his head. He glances over at his brothers, a lopsided grin on his face.

"What's up? I miss anything good?"

"Not particularly. The rest of the League left." Dick pouts cutely.

"I wanted to pet Shayera's wings!" Tim gives him a strange look.

"She would probably slap you."

"No she wouldn't. I'm adorable." Dick sticks his tongue out at them. "Besides, she wouldn't hit an injured person."

"It's Shayera. She probably would." Tim grumbles. Dick shrugs.

"She let me pet them all the time when I was little."

"Because you were little."

"Don't hate just because she likes me better." Dick smirks, causing Tim to roll his eyes, laughing softly. The acrobat sits up, looking up at the clock and sighs.

"What's wrong?"

"Can you guys help me get upstairs? I'm hungry and don't want to wake up Alfred." Tim and Damian quickly jump up from their seats.

"Don't worry. We'll make you something."

"I'm not helpless. I can make my own food. I just need help getting upstairs since Bruce hid my crutches."

"He hid the crutches for a reason. You're not supposed to be getting up." Tim states, crossing his arms. "You just got over a very high fever. We don't want to take any chances." Dick groans again, flopping back on the pillows.

"But I'm  _bored_. I can't just lay around here all day."

"You can, and you will." Damian adds. "Now, stay put. We'll go make you some breakfast." The two birds walk out of the room as Dick pouts. He sits up again, looking around the room for something to use to get up. The newest Bat stares at the chair, a wicked grin on his face. He grabs the chair, hauling himself up. The acrobat starts hobbling out of the room slowly, using the chair as a walker. Once out of the infirmary, he spots his motorcycle not too far off. He just wanted to go for a quick ride. No one would even have to know that he left.

* * *

Jason makes his way down the secret staircase, down to the cave. Knowing his older brother, he would probably be awake at this hour. With any luck, their younger brothers were in bed. "Morning, Dickie Bird. You need anyt-" He stops short, seeing the bed empty and one of the chairs mysteriously missing. "Aw hell." Jason races out of the room and pauses, seeing Dick's bike missing with a chair in its place. "Well, shit."

"What happened?" Tim asks from behind him. Jason jumps, having not expected him and turns to see him holding a plate of pancakes drenched in maple syrup as Damian stands next to him with a mug of coffee.

"We have a big problem." Jason mutters as Damian raises an eyebrow.

"What  _kind_  of problem?"

"Dick's gone."

"….Define  _gone_." Jason points to the empty parking spot, then back to the empty infirmary.

"He escaped."

"Shit." Tim hisses. "What are we going to tell Bruce?"

"Tell me what?" They all jump, turning to face their father. The three all look in different directions, not wanting to answer him. Bruce's eyes narrow as he looks behind them to the missing bike. "You let him sneak out."

"We didn't think he was going anywhere! You already hid the crutches!" Tim exclaims, clenching the plate in his hands tighter.

"He's very resourceful. If he wants something, he'll find a way to get it." Jason mumbles, crossing his arms. "One of you should have stayed with him."

"He said he was hungry, so we went to make him breakfast!" Tim growls. "And where the hell were  _you_ , anyway? You've been gone for hours!"

" _Excuse me_  for taking a nap."

"Stop arguing and find him. Who knows how far he's gotten by now." Bruce cuts them off, heading towards the Batcomputer. "Head out. I'll track his location." The three birds nod, heading for their bikes. "Tim, Damian. Leave the food." The two pause, frowning down at the items in their hands. They set the plate and mug down before heading off. Bruce eyes the food before walking over to it and takes it back to his chair. There was no sense in letting the food go to waste.

* * *

Dick parks his bike at a local diner, and limps inside. The waitress spots him and her eyes widen and she runs over to help him to a nearby table. "Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" Dick nods, leaning back in the booth.

"Yeah…bastard hit me on my bike." She gasps.

"I'm glad you're alright though! Can I get you're the usual?" He nods, smiling warmly.

"Thanks, Rosie." She nods, before scampering off to the back, giggling to one of her friends. Dick rolls eyes, glancing out the window at the still bustling city. Someone slides into the booth in front of him, catching his attention. His eyes widen, seeing a familiar fiery redhead sitting in front of him. She leans forward, smirking.

"Well, if it isn't Richard Grayson. Who would have thought I would run into Gotham's Prince in a place like this." She purrs, her grin widening.

"Ivy. I heard you were just thrown back in Arkham." Ivy shrugs, playing with a strand of hair.

"Oh, you know…I didn't want to stay in that cramped cell."

"Batman will find you."

"I'm counting on it." She yanks his head forward, pulling him into a kiss. He struggles, trying to push her away. Ivy suddenly gets her head whipped away roughly causing her to shriek in rage. Dick looks up at his savior and beams up at Jason, who still had Ivy by her hair.

"Hm. What do we have here? I could have sworn Robin just threw you in prison."

"Let me go, you brute!" The cops pull up in front of the diner and Jason smirks.

"Looks like you're going back."

"No! Let me go!" She thrashes as Jason drags her out and hands her over to the authorities. He walks back inside and helps Dick up.

"Time to go home."

"But the-"

"Don't worry about it. We have food at the house." Jason hauls him outside and frowns at the rising temperature of Dick's skin. He looks down at his brother who was staring up at him, his eyes glazed over. "Um…Dickie? You alright?" Dick presses against Jason and grabs the rogue's hand and places it on his perfect behind.

"Jay…help me…it hurts." Dick breathes. Jason's eyes widen as his cheeks begin to flush.

"W-What are you doing?"

"No more talking." The acrobat pulls Jason into a kiss, slipping his tongue into his mouth. Dick moans softly, pulling the rogue closer.

"What the  _fuck_  is going on?" Damian hisses, having just arrived with Tim. Jason looks up at them, shoving Dick off. Dick nips at Jason's neck, causing the rogue bird to shutter.

"Get him off before he makes me rape him!"

"What the hell happened to him?" Tim asks, trying to pull Dick away. The Bat turns towards Tim, grinning seductively.

"Timmy…help me…Jay is being mean." Dick grabs Tim's groin, causing the hacker to yelp, turning bright red.

"D-Dick! S-S-Stop it!" Dick grins, nibbling on Tim's ear.

"We could always have a threesome…why don't we go somewhere quiet and have some fun?" He purrs, squeezing Tim's crotch again. Jason manages to yank Dick away from the eighteen-year-old, only to have Dick's full attention on him again. "Please, Jay…"

"Gah! Get him away!" Jason shoves him into Damian before sprinting over to his bike. "Take him home. And remind me later to kick Ivy's ass!" He growls before speeding off. Dick pouts, looking up at Tim.

"Timmy…" Tim backs away slowly before running to his bike, hopping on.

"Ihavetogo!" He mutters quickly before speeding off as well. Dick groans, glancing back at Damian.

"They're so mean to me…" Damian twitches, helping Dick over to his bike.

"Touch me inappropriately, and you die." Dick pouts cutely.

"I'm not a pedophile, Dami." Damian's bike roars to life, and he quickly heads back towards the manor. "But my bike!"

"We'll get it later."

"But someone can steal it."

"With the amount of security on it, no one will be able to get close."

"Can we go see Babs? Or Kory? Or even Roy?" Damian's eye twitches.

"No. Don't make me knock you unconscious."

"Meanie."

"Sex fiend."


	17. Unlucky Day

Bruce frowns as Jason and Tim return home without Dick, and promptly run up the stairs before he could ask any questions. He checks the tracker on Dick's bike, seeing that it was still parked at the diner. Next, the Dark Knight checks Damian's tracker as well as Dick's personal tracker. The dots on the map blink close together, both heading back towards the cave. Bruce nods to himself before starting to check the news feeds for any crime.

* * *

Damian growls, swerving the bike to the right as the Mad Hatter fires another beam at them. "You have terrible luck, Grayson." He hisses as Dick sighs, shrugging.

"I know…I  _told_  you I should have taken my own bike."

"Shut up." Damian swerves again, barely missing a light pole.

"Pole."

"I  _know_."

"Apparently not. Let me drive."

"No."

"Damian."

" _No._ "

"Then let me be a distraction while you go change into costume!"

"NO! You are injured. I am  _not_  putting you in any more danger!"

"We're already  _in_  danger, Dami! I can handle myself." Damian mutters a string of curses under his breath, coming to a dead end with Hatter right behind them. Jervis grins gleefully, holding up the ray gun at the pair.

"Bruce Wayne will pay me oodles to turn his two sons back to normal~!" He cheers, about to fire. Dick glances at Damian.

"Plan B?"

"Plan B." Damian grumbles, disappearing into the shadows. Dick grins, revving the engine on the bike.

"You're going to have to catch me first~!" With that, Dick speeds off, steering around Jervis and down the street. Mad Hatter taps on the roof of the car, signaling to the driver to take off after him. His minion floors it, trying to catch up with the motorcycle as Jervis hangs out of the sunroof. Dick looks back at them and swerves to the right, trying to get out of the confined alleys. Unfortunately, Jervis catches on, cutting the Bat off at the next turn. The acrobat curses silently, having nowhere to turn around in the small alley. A birdarang suddenly flies out of the shadows, knocking the ray gun out of Jervis's hand, causing it to fire as it hits the ground. Damian drops down from the rooftops as Mad Hatter glares up at him.

"Ah, if it isn't the Bird Boy. I was hoping I wouldn't attract your attention. You see, I'm in a hurry tonight. I have a very important meeting with a white rabbit." Robin scoffs, pulling out another birdarang. Jervis taps on the roof of the car, and driver smashes on the gas pedal, taking off around the corner. Damian curses, about to take off after him, when he freezes, hearing a quiet sniffle coming from where Dick should have been. Robin looks over to his motorcycle and his eyes widen in horror, seeing a pile of clothes and his brother missing.

"Grayson!" He runs over to the bike, quickly looking around for any sign of the Bat. He twitches, seeing the familiar bright blue eyes staring up at him from the ground. "Fuck."

* * *

Bruce looks up at the clock again, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Dick and Damian should have been home an hour ago. Especially since the last time he checked on their trackers, it had shown that they were on the way. Fearing the worst, the original Bat starts typing rapidly, about to check on his sons again. He pauses, hearing Damian's bike enter the cave. Bruce gets up, walking over to them, but frowns, seeing only Damian. "What happened?" Damian sighs heavily, placing a small figure down from the bike in what appeared to be a black cloth diaper, before he gets off himself. The toddler giggles happily, trying to scamper over to Bruce, but starts limping halfway there, whimpering softly. The billionaire's eyes widen in shock, seeing those brilliant blue eyes he knew so well on the child, who finally had made it to him, and was currently tugging on his pant leg.

"….Dick?"

"Daddy!" The child sings, holding his arms out for a hug. Bruce leans down, scooping him up, his eyes narrowing at Damian.

"Explain.  _Now_."

"Hatter." Damian hisses, storming over to the Batcomputer. "He got away." Dick looks between the two, frowning at the tense atmosphere. His eyes water as he glances up at Bruce, clutching his shirt. Bruce feels the tug and his eyes shoot to the five-year-old in his arms. His heart breaks, seeing Dick's bottom lip start to quiver.

"Worry about him later. You're scaring him." Damian stiffens, looking back at Dick, who was snuggling closer into his father.

"We cannot just leave him like this!"

"It may wear off."

"That's not likely. Plus, he still has all of his injuries. With the energy of a child, he is only going to hurt himself further. You coddling him is not helping things either." Bruce's eyes narrow dangerously.

"I'm not coddling him."

"As soon as he called you 'Daddy', he had you wrapped around his finger."

"He does not. You're overworked and exhausted. Go to bed and we'll deal with this in the morning. We should just be glad that he is in one piece."

"And potty trained." Damian mumbles, heading for the stairs. Dick stares up at Bruce curiously.

"Why is Dami so mean?" Bruce shrugs, heading for the stairs as well.

"Don't worry about him."

* * *

Tim and Jason sit in the kitchen in silence. Jason had already downed three beers and was working on another as Tim stares into his mug of tea blankly. The hacker jumps as Damian storms past, muttering something under his breath in Arabic.

"What shoved the stick up his ass deeper?" Jason grumbles, taking another swig of his beer. Tim raises an eyebrow, choosing to ignore the comment. Bruce walks in shortly after, holding something that made both of their jaws drop. "Is that what I think it is?" Bruce nods, sitting the toddler down on the counter. Dick giggles, crawling over to the cookie jar. Tim scoops him up before he knocked the entire ceramic jar onto the ground. Dick pouts cutely, tugging on Tim's shirt.

"Cookie!"

"You should probably have dinner first."

"But I want a cookie!"

"But-" Jason hands Dick a cookie, making the child beam in delight and start devouring the sweet treat.

"Just give the kid a damn cookie." Jason gets out between laughs. "Oh God. This is rich! How the hell did this happen?"

"Hatter." Bruce answers, scouring the fridge for something to feed the child for dinner.

"Damn!" Dick chimes around the cookie, causing the adult members of the Batfamily to look at him in shock. Jason roars with laughter as Tim and Bruce glare at him. Tim smacks the back of his head.

"Now look at what you've done!"

"What? It's not like he's  _really_  five. Despite what you may have deluded yourself in to believing; Golden Boy curses."

"Fuck!" Dick chimes again, causing them all to looks at the toddler again as he giggles.

"Don't look at me this time." Jason grumbles.

"Now, Dick…who taught you that word?" Tim asks gently. Dick looks up at him happily.

"Dami." Jason bursts into laughter again, but Tim smack the back of his head again.

"Why don't you go buy him some clothes. It's not good for him to be running around in…that…" Tim states, gesturing to the crude diaper that was made out of the shirt Dick had been wearing earlier.

"Why do I have to do it?" Jason grumbles, about to take another sip of beer. He freezes, feeling the dark aura radiating off of the Bat and Tim, and sighs heavily. " _Fine_. I guess I'll get him some toys or something too…" Dick's eyes light up excitedly.

"Toys! Can we play now?"

"Once Jay gets back, we can play…we need to get you some dinner first." Tim states, setting Dick back down on the counter. Dick's eyes zero in on the beer cans in front of him, and he reaches out for one curiously. Tim scoops him up again, starting to take him into the living room. "On second thought, let's watch a movie while Daddy makes dinner."

"Kay!" Jason rolls his eyes, heading for the front door. This was going to be a nightmare with Bruce and Tim hovering over Dick like a mother hen.


	18. Frenzy

Bruce looks around the kitchen in mild horror. He had just put out a fire that started on the stove. There were several pots with goop burnt onto them, and suspicious looking slime on the ceiling from where one of his concoctions exploded. He hears someone clear their throat behind him and slowly turns around to face an unhappy looking butler. "Alfred. I-"

"Did I not inform you that you were no longer allowed to prepare meals in this kitchen, Master Bruce?" The billionaire cringes, looking away like a scolded child.

"I didn't think you would be awake."

"One finds it rather difficult to sleep when someone is destroying the kitchen."

"Sorry…I'll clean it up later."

"I will assist you. You do not know which cleaning supplies to use for which surface. Though, it does peek my curiosity. What brought on the urge to cook something up?" Alfred raises an eyebrow as Bruce scratches the back of his head awkwardly.

"Well…" The little five-year-old comes bounding into the kitchen, latching onto Alfred's leg, startling the elderly butler.

"Oh my!"

"Alfie! I'm hungry and Daddy is not allowed in the kitchen! Timmy says so!" Dick sings happily as Tim walks in behind him.

"Ah…I see…how did this happen?" Alfred asks as he scoops up the giggling toddler.

"Damian said that it was Mad Hatter. He targeted them out of costume." Alfred nods slowly, his eyes zeroing in on the unbandaged burns on the child's arms.

"Master Tim. Would you mind fetching the first aid kit?" Tim nods, opening the cabinet under the sink to get the item requested as Alfred sets Dick down on the counter. "We need to dress your wounds, Master Dick." Dick pouts cutely.

"But I'm hungry! Wounds can wait!" Tim places the first aid kit down next to Dick and opens it up.

"I'm afraid it cannot wait, Master Dick." Alfred starts bandaging the toddlers burns as Tim looks around the kitchen in horror.

"What happened?" Bruce looks away in shame.

"Nothing." He walks over to the cabinet, grabs a box of cereal and a bowl before heading over to the fridge to get the milk. He pours the cereal and milk, then grabs a spoon. He places the meal in front of the toddler before starting to put the food away. Dick beams, starting to eat as Alfred continues to bandage him.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Bruce nods, ruffling Dick's hair affectionately. Jason returns from the store, several bags in hand. The toddler looks over curiously, trying to peer inside. Jason smirks, pulling out the first item. Tim and Bruce frown at the mini motorcycle jacket.

"What the hell is  _that_?" Tim growls, crossing his arms. "Dick isn't going to wear that."

"Of course he is. Don't you like it, Dickie Bird?" Jason holds the jacket closer to the toddler, who's face lights up excitedly.

"It's so cool! Thank you, Jay!" He escapes from Alfred and tackles Jason with a hug. Tim and Bruce's frown deepen as Jason grins smugly.

"I have more clothes for you too!" The rogue starts pulling out shirts for Dick. All ranging from saying 'Anarchy', 'Little Rebel', and 'F*ck U'. The ripped jeans he pulled out of the bag complete led the look.

"He is  _not_  wearing any of that! What were you thinking?" Tim rages, looking through the other bag that was filled with toys that looked rather dangerous. "He could hurt himself on these!"

"He'll be fine. He knows how to use all kinds of weapons. This is nothing." Tim pulls out a Nerf gun, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"You shouldn't encourage him to use guns!"

"It's just a  _toy_. Stop being such a pussy." Jason rolls his eyes, taking out a pair of Red Hood boxers. "Ready to get dressed, Dickie?" Dick nods happily, ripping off the makeshift diaper shamelessly. Jason snickers as Tim flinches.

"Dick! Don't just strip in front of everyone!" Dick pouts, pulling on the boxers.

"Why?"

"It's not appropriate."

"He's five. It's not a big deal." Jason mutters, handing Dick a pair of the ripped jeans. The toddler whimpers when he puts too much pressure on his left leg, starting to wobble. Tim steadies him, helping him into the jeans.

"Careful…your leg's still broken." Alfred moves in before he could continue to get dressed.

"I am almost done dressing your wounds. Please hold on for a few moments more." Dick sighs, nodding obediently, and sits back down on the counter. Bruce sets the bowl of cereal in his son's lap.

"Yay!" Dick cheers, starting to eat once again.

"Dick…do you remember how you got hurt?" Bruce asks, wiping some of the milk that was dripping down Dick's chin. Dick frowns, putting a finger to his chin as he thinks carefully.

"Hmm….nope! Did I fall off the chandelier again?"

"No…what's the last thing you remember?"

"Dami being a Meanie Head. He found me in an alley…dunno why I was there." Dick shrugs before starting to eat again. Damian appears in the kitchen and his eyes narrow at the shirts laid out on the counter all in Dick's petite size.

"Why would you let  _Todd_  go shopping?"

"He was being an asshole so it was to get him out." Tim states, still rummaging through the toy bag.

"Asshole!" Dick chirps, giggling madly. Bruce glowers at Tim, who shrinks back slightly.

"Sorry." Dick looks up at Damian innocently.

"Is Dami an asshole too?" Damian blinks before his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"No. That is strictly Todd." Dick nods.

"Ohhh. Ok."

"Stop encouraging him to curse!" Tim shouts irritatedly, pulling out a BB gun. "What the hell? He's too young for this!" Jason snatches the gun, shooting Tim in the stomach. The hacker hisses in pain, rubbing his stinging stomach. "You  _ass_!" He tries to steal the gun back, but Jason holds it over his head, chuckling darkly. Jason freezes, feeling Bruce looming over him darkly. He slowly sets the gun down, taking a step back.

"Uh. My bad." The doorbell rings and Alfred makes to go get it, but Jason waves him off. "I got it, Alf. Just finish up with the jumping bean first." He flings the door open lazily and his eyes widen in horror, seeing a horde of reporters with cameras and microphones, all being shoved into his face.

"Is it true that Richard was in a motorcycle accident and that now he is missing?" One of the reporters asks. Jason slams the door closed quickly, and returns back to the kitchen, his face pale. Damian eyes him critically, putting on a pot of coffee.

"Did someone leave a crowbar for you?" He sneers. Jason glares furiously, snapping out of his shock.

"No, you little twerp! Savage reporters are outside looking for Dick." The rest of the Batfamily freezes in horror, aside from Dick, who was finishing off his cereal happily.

"How much did they know?" Bruce asks, walking over to the window and peering out of the blinds. He quickly steps back, seeing the flash of a camera.

"That he's hurt and missing." Jason answers, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Not to mention the fact that they saw me here just now. They're going to have a field day."

"Do you know who was out there? We can blackmail them into leaving the premises and never returning." Damian states, watching the coffee brew, deep in thought.

"That's a terrible idea. I'm sure we can figure this out without violence." Tim states, starting to pace the kitchen.

"Figures you would try to fix it the cowardly way. I say we just go shoot them all. That will teach them not to trespass." Jason muses, leaning against the counter.

"No! We need a believable cover story and fast."

"Just say that he-" Jason starts, but pauses when he sees Alfred looking around the kitchen frantically. "What now?"

"It would appear that Master Dick has escaped." They all look at the counter, where the toddler had been not a minute ago to see it now empty.

"Fuck." Damian curses, forgetting about the coffee. "Spread out. He knows this house better than anyone. That is going to make him difficult to find."

"I'll go check the security monitors." Bruce states, already heading back towards the hidden staircase.

"They are still offline. I have not had a chance to bring them back up." Damian mutters, feeling the intensity of Bruce's glare increase.

"I'll go get them online,  _then_  check them." Bruce grumbles irritatedly, walking out of the room.

"How the hell did the press find out so fast?" Tim asks, walking to the window to see the mass amounts of news vans arriving in front of the manor.

"Who knows. Damn vultures." Jason grumbles. "I should have never come back." He stalks out of the room to try to find their lost Bat.

* * *

Conner frowns, seeing the news bulletin that Dick Grayson was missing. He sighs heavily as his phone rings. "What, Wally?"

"Dick is  _missing_! Clearly they can't take care of him properly! What if he got kidnapped again? We need to go find him!"

"Maybe Bruce is just hiding him because he doesn't want the entire League in his house."

"I doubt it. Did you  _see_  the look on Jason's face when he opened the door on the news? He looked horrified! They're hiding something!"

"We're not allowed to go back there."

"It's to find Dick! Roy is already on board." Conner sighs heavily.

"Fine. But if I get in any more trouble because of this, I  _will_  hurt you. "

"Deal! Meet in Gotham in twenty minutes! I'm going to pick up Roy!" Wally hangs up as Conner rubs his temples in irritation. He had a feeling that this was a very bad idea…but once Wally made up his mind on something, it was impossible to convince him otherwise.


	19. Ice Cream

 

Wally grins as he meets up with Conner. Roy frowns, looking between the two. "What exactly are we doing in Gotham?"

"We're going to find Dick! He's missing!"

"I don't remember agreeing to this…I've been chewed out by Bats enough for one lifetime." Roy states, crossing his arms. Conner nods in agreement.

"Why don't we just call his cell phone? Though, we should have done this  _before_  we came here…if Bats catches us…" The clone trails off, looking around to make sure they weren't being followed.

"I tried his cell already! It went straight to voicemail!" Wally exclaims, flailing his arms dramatically. "What if he got kidnapped again?"

"We've been over this already. The birds or the Bat will find him. He's probably not even missing." Roy mutters, shifting irritatedly.

"Let's just go get dinner and figure it out from there." Conner suggests, earning a grin from Wally.

"Ok! Tab's on you then!" He races off as the clone growls aggravatedly.

"We can't let him have any sugar." Roy mutters, starting to head off after the speedster. Conner nods in agreement, following after him.

* * *

Dick giggles softly, sneaking past the reporters out front and starts wandering towards town. He probably should have told his brothers that he was leaving, but wouldn't be gone long. Not to mention the fact that they always found him in the end. A woman pauses, having past him on the street and crouches down in front of him. "Hi there, little one. Are you lost?" She asks softly. He looks up at her innocently and shakes his head.

"I was just going to get ice cream."

"Where are your parents?"

"Daddy is at home with my brothers."

"Do they know where you are?"

"Nope. But it's ok. I'm a big boy!" He beams happily. "I just want ice cream, then I'll go straight home." Her heart melts at his smile and she giggles.

"Why don't I go with you? It's dangerous to be out here alone."

"Ok! And if any bad men come, I'll protect you!" He throws a fist in the air to demonstrate as she giggles once again.

"What's your name, Sweetheart?"

"Dick. Short for Richard." He smiles brightly as she ruffles his hair.

"My name is Margret. Come on…let's go get you some ice cream."

"Thank you, Ms. Margret!" She takes his hand, leading him off to the ice cream parlor. They hear a rather loud conversation between three young men approaching them quickly.

"I want dessert! You know I have an extremely high metabolism."

"You're not allowed to have sugar! You're already too hyper as it is!" Two of them argue as they get closer to the pair. Dick looks up at them curiously and his eyes light up excitedly.

"Wally! Roy! Conner!" The three pause, looking down at the small child. They stare at him blankly for a moment before they recognize those expressive, sky blue eyes.

"Dick?" Wally asks in horror, his jaw hanging open. Dick nods happily, waving at the three.

"This is Ms. Margret! She's taking me for ice cream! And I'm going to protect her from baddies!" Margret looks between the three males curiously.

"Do you know his father? I was terribly worried when I saw him wandering on the streets by himself." The three heroes pale.

"H-He was by himself?" Conner asks in shock. "Does any of your family know where you are?" Dick shakes his head.

"They were arguing, so I left. I tried to tell them that I would be right back, but they weren't paying attention."

"We'll take you back home." Roy states, reaching out for Dick's hand. The toddler pouts, clinging closer to Margret.

"No! I'm getting ice cream with Ms. Margret!"

"Dick…your father is going to  _kill_  us." Roy presses, taking a step towards him.

"No he won't. It's just ice cream. It's not a big deal." Dick waves his small hand dismissively, starting to walk forward, pulling Margret along with him. He whimpers, his left leg giving out. The toddler collapses, but Margret catches him, cradling him in her arms.

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright, Sweetheart?" Dick nods, his eyes brimming with tears.

"It hurts. Alfie says my leg's broken…I don't remember how…" He sniffles, rubbing his eyes.

"It's alright…I'll-"

"We'll take it from here." Roy states, taking Dick from Margret. She frowns, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I was going to take him to a doctor. He's clearly in pain!"

"We're going to take him home. That's where he  _needs_  to be." She raises an eyebrow.

"How can I be so sure? By the sounds of it, his father is some kind of crime lord! The  _last_  place he needs to be is _there_!"

"His father isn't a crime lord!" Wally exclaims, trying to take the toddler from Roy, but the archer dodges. "Hey! I want to hold him!"

"No. You'll probably squeeze him to death or something."

"I just want ice cream!" Dick whimpers pitifully, burring his face into Roy's shirt. The four adults crumble, all exchanging glances.

"Alright. Let's go get him some ice cream, then take him home." Conner suggests. They all nod in agreement as Dick smiles softly up at all of them with tears still streaming down his cheeks.

"Thank you!"

"Bruce is going to murder us." Roy grumbles, walking towards the ice cream parlor.

* * *

Jason growls, opening yet another empty closet. "Why are there so many damn rooms in this house?" He hisses into the comm link. They all decided to keep in touch in case someone found their missing brother.

"Who knows…" Tim states, digging through the dirty laundry pile in Dick's room. "Have you found anything yet, Damian?"

"Nothing. I've been scanning the house a heat sensor and have found only our heat signatures." Damian states from the attic. Jason pauses in his search, frowning.

"Where the hell did you get a heat sensor?"

"I made it, Todd. Unlike you, I do not need to  _purchase_  all of my equipment."

"That can be taken in more than one way, Demon. And I'm all natur-el for the record." Jason sneers as Tim twitches from the mental image.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Todd!" Damian hisses, wishing he could un-hear that last statement.

"Fact is: If Dick's not in the Manor, then he must have snuck out. How did he get past all of those reporters?"

"Years of training in stealth…not to mention the fact that he's tiny…at least he's wearing a shirt though…I saw one missing from the counter." Jason states, sighing heavily. "Now what?"

"We need to extend the search to Gotham." Damian orders. "I'm going to sneak out the back. Keep in contact and check all of his usual places."

"We're going about this all wrong. He's  _five_. We need to check where a child would go. Dessert places, toy stores, and playgrounds need to be our main focuses. He has small legs and he's got a broken leg. He shouldn't have gotten far."

"Drake, look up the locations and send them to us. First thing's first. We need to get out of here without being spotted." Damian growls, looking out the window as the still increasing mass of paparazzi.

"Can we  _please_  shoot them?" Jason asks hopefully, already reaching for his gun.

"No!" Comes the chorused response from Tim and Damian.

"Fine…but if they get in my way, I  _will_  hurt them."

"Just don't kill anyone. And make sure they don't see you." Tim adds, sighing heavily.

"Deal."


	20. Toy Store Drama

Wally, Roy, and Conner sit across from Dick in the ice cream parlor, who was currently sitting in Margret's lap as she looks over his leg. "Why isn't your leg in a cast, Sweetie?" Dick looks away in shame.

"I ran away before Alfie finished bandaging me."

"How can you even walk? Doesn't it hurt?" Dick shrugs.

"I've had worse. And Alfie gave me some pain medicine, but it's not really working anymore…I probably walked too far…but…it's for ice cream, so it's worth it!" He beams as the heroes at the other side of the table sigh heavily. Once Bruce found out; he was going to have their heads for not bringing him home right away.

"I called Kal and Megan…they should be able to help with the uh…current situation." Conner states, nodding towards the toddler, who was now trying to get Margret to take him up to the counter to look at the flavors. "They're better with kids than us."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm wonderful with kids!" Wally states, glancing at Dick. "What do you say we go to the circus after this?" Dick looks down sadly as his eyes start to water.

"Haley's circus is the only one in town…" The three heroes at the table grow silent before Roy smacks the back of Wally's head.

"Now look at what you've done! You made him cry!"

"I didn't mean it!" Wally looks around frantically, trying to find something to cheer him up. "Um. Or we can go to the zoo?" Dick shudders.

"The animals there can be scary…once, Killer Croc left me in the alligator pit there and they tried to eat me!" Margret gasps in horror.

"How awful! What kind of family do you live with? It seems too dangerous. I should-"

"Butt out." Roy grumbles. "The only reason we allowed you to come is because Dick seems to like you. Don't mess with matters that you don't understand." Margret frowns, wanting to say something else, when Kaldur and Megan arrive. The Atlantian was dressed in street clothes to blend in while Megan had disguised herself to appear as a normal human young woman. Wally beams up at them gratefully.

"So glad you guys could make it so fast!" The speedster beams, hopping out of his chair to pull up two more chairs for the new arrivals. Megan glances at the child in Margret's arms curiously.

"And who is this adorable little man?" She asks, holding her arms out to take the toddler. Dick beams up at her, giggling as he dives into her arms.

"Megan! Kal! Can we go get ice cream now? We've been just sitting here  _forever_!" The martian eyes him curiously before she gasps.

"Dick?" He nods happily, pointing to the ice cream coolers impatiently. Kaldur frowns, setting his sights on Roy, Conner, and Wally.

"What happened to him?" They shrug.

"We found him like this. Wally here was trying to entertain him, and failed miserably." Roy grumbles, his eyes narrowing at Margret. "I think it's time you left."

"But-"

" _Now_." The archer hisses. Margret glares before getting up and storming out of the parlor.

"Why did you not take him straight home?" Kal asks as Megan takes Dick up to the counter to get his long awaited ice cream.

"Well…we're not on the best terms with Bats…not to mention the fact that technically, we shouldn't even be in Gotham…but, we couldn't help it! The news said that Dick was missing, and we already knew he was injured pretty badly! Who knew what could have happened to him!" Wally states anxiously as Roy and Conner glare at him irritatedly.

"Don't drag us into this. All of this was  _your_  brilliant idea." Roy grumbles, crossing his arms before glancing over at Kaldur. "Dick wouldn't let us bring him home until he got ice cream."

"He is small…you could have just carried him." Kal states, raising an eyebrow.

" _You_  trying saying no to Dick Grayson." Roy retorts as the Atlantian sighs in defeat.

"Very true…those puppy eyes of his could crumble nations."

"Exactly."

"So what do we do now?" Conner asks, eyeing the gigantic cone of ice cream Dick had in his small grasp as Megan giggles, paying for the treat.

"We wait until he is ready to go home…and pray that Batman does not find us."

"Good idea." The archer states, looking out the window for any sign of movement in the shadows.

* * *

Damian growls irritatedly, glaring up at the sales clerk in the toy store. "How many times do I have to tell you that I do not want to buy anything?"

"But you surely came in here for a reason, Sonny." The man plasters a fake smile across his lips, causing Damian to twitch in aggravation.

"I am a  _Prince_! You cannot talk to me like this!"

"Aw. Someone needs to take a time out from playing pretend."

"I don't  _pretend_!" Damian hisses viciously, glaring darkly up at the store clerk.

"Alright, Sonny. Why don't I get you a stuffed kitten?"

"Do NOT insult me with degrading nicknames and small furry creatures! I should slit your throat for such behavior!"

"Damian. Calm down!" Tim shouts through the comm link.

"Eh, let him blow off some steam. Would you rather have him try to murder you in your sleep?" Jason asks, kicking another journalist in the face.

"You're one to talk. You're not even out searching for Dick! All this time, you've been beating up reporters!" Tim growls irritatedly. "And Damian has outgrown that phase."

"No, he hasn't. Dick told me to keep an eye on him while he was stuck in the infirmary. And I see nothing wrong with kicking the ass of someone who is annoying."

"When did Dick tell you that?"

"He and I have had some very deep conversations…"

"You're full of shit! Dick talks to me about everything!"

"Clearly not. You didn't even know about his little fling with Roy."

"I knew!"

"But he didn't tell you. You only found out by being your creeper self. Do you still have all of those pictures of him? And does he  _know_  that you used to stalk him?"

"I did  _not_  stalk him!"

"Oh, so he knows about the photos?"

"….No."

"Stalker."

"Both of you, SILENCE!" Damian shouts, earning a strange look from the store clerk.

"Hmm…are your imaginary friends fighting? Perhaps you need our EZ Bake Oven to help relieve some stress. You're far too young to be this uptight." Damian growls in rage, lunging at the employee.

"I am NOT A CHILD!" The clerk shrieks as they collapse to the ground, the bird putting him in a choke hold. "I'll show you who's  _stressed_!"

"Get him, Little Demon! I'm so hacking the security feed to watch that later!" Jason manages to get out through his hysterical laughter.

"Don't encourage him! Now they're going to call the cops and Bruce is going to find out!" Tim shouts, running towards the toy store.

"Eh. Let him. He still can't punish the Demon. Dick's the only one who can control him."

"Bruce is going to think we're incompetent and find Dick himself. What do you  _think_  is going to happen when Bruce finds him and not us?" Jason frowns, imagining the impending lecture.

"Ugh. Fine. Go collect the Demon since you're closer. I'll cut the phone lines to the manor, then look for Dick."

"He's going to know that the lines have been cut."

"Not if he's locked himself in the Cave like he probably already has."

"Whatever. Just hurry up and find him." Tim finally makes it to the toy store and his eyes widen, seeing several other employees trying to pry the enraged bird off of their coworker. Damian screams a stream of curses in Arabic as he fights off the other employees. Tim tackles his younger brother, starting to drag him towards the exit.

"Sorry about him…I promise, this will never happen again!" Tim manages to get Damian out of the store and shoves the younger bird. "What's wrong with you? We're supposed to be trying to find Dick, in case you've forgotten."

"He was insulting my intelligence." Damian huffs, crossing his arms. "And for the record, I have not forgotten."

"Maybe we should look for him together."

"That makes no sense. We can cover more ground if we separate." Tim frowns, causing Damian to raise an eyebrow. "You don't trust me."

"After the stunt you pulled…not really."

"Tt. Figures. Follow me if you wish. I'm going to find Grayson." With that, Damian disappears into the shadows as Tim sighs heavily.

"This is going to be a long night."

* * *

Jason walks into town and walks past the ice cream parlor. He pauses, seeing a familiar crop of bright red hair by the window. He peers inside and smirks, seeing Wally, Roy, Conner, and Kal chatting quietly as Dick sleeps soundly in Megan's arms. She gently wipes some chocolate from his face. Dick scrunches his nose before snuggling closer to the martian.

"What an adorable sight we have here." Jason states, walking into the parlor as the heroes all jump, turning to face him slowly in horror.

"Uh…we were going to bring him back as soon as he finished his ice cream!" Wally defends, looking around frantically to make sure Jason was alone.

"And you just so happened to find him and bring him here?"

"Exactly! Where are your brothers, by the way?"

"Breaking up a brawl in a toy store." Wally cocks his head to the side.

"What? Why?"

"Damian went apeshit on one of the employees." Jason snickers. "What I would have paid to see  _that_!" Dick stirs slightly.

"Mommy…don't leave me…" He mumbles, clinging tighter to Megan. She strokes his hair gently, trying to calm him down.

"Alright…time to take him back before the Bat gets grumpy." Jason states, reaching out to take his brother.

"Maybe we should let him sleep for a little while…"

"I don't want to be chewed out by Bats."

"But he's sleeping.." Wally frowns. "What if he's grumpy when he wakes up?"

"It's Dick…how bad could he be?" Jason gently takes Dick from the martian, the jostle waking the slumbering toddler. The newest Bat instantly starts bawling, screaming something incoherent in Romani as he thrashes in Jason's arms. "Holy shit!"

"You spoke too soon." Roy grumbles. "Anyone here know how to speak Romani?" Everyone shakes their head.

"Well fuck." Jason sighs, holding out the distressed toddler.


	21. Tantrum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important Note: Since it's a nightmare finding a Romani translator, I'm just going to use Romanian for the sake of my sanity. Sorry! . And the italics next to the Romanian will be the English translation.

Jason winces, holding the toddler at arm's length as Dick screams bloody murder. "Make him  _stop_!"

"Holding him like that isn't helping any! You need to try to comfort him!" Megan calls out, trying to take Dick. Jason hands his brother over willingly.

"Ugh. Whatever. Just make him shut up!" Megan sighs, cradling Dick close, and rocking him in her arms to try to calm him down. Dick continues to bawl, not having any of it. A small brunette girl, around the age of five, walks up to them, from a table nearby. She tugs on Megan's skirt, pointing up at Dick.

"Este el bine?"  _Is he okay?_ Megan stares at her blankly, having no idea what she just said. Dick pauses his sobbing, looking down at the girl. "Ce este greşit?"  _What's wrong?_  He sniffles, wiping his eyes.

"Mami şi tati au plecat."  _My mommy and daddy are gone._  His eyes water as he hiccups. "Ei nu te intoarce." _They're never coming back._  She frowns, trying to reach up to take his hand. He reaches out, taking it.

"Le vei întâlni din nou într-o zi. Dar până atunci, se pare a avea o familie care te iubeşte."  _You'll meet them again someday. But until then, you seem to have a family that loves you._ Two adults walk up to them, smiling warmly down at their daughter.

"I see she made a friend…" The woman states. "Jaelle, honey. It's time to go…" The small girl pouts up at her parents.

"Can he come? He seems so sad!" They look over to him wearily.

"That depends if his family will let him…" The father states. Jason sighs heavily, running a hand over his face.

"We need to get him back home."

"No. I'm not going home." Dick states defiantly, crossing his small arms. "I'm going with Jaelle." Jason's eyes narrow.

"You're going home."

"No."

"Dick."

"No."

"It isn't a question!"

"NO!" Dick shouts angrily, glaring up at his older brother.

"That's IT! Bedtime!"

"You can't make me! Asshole!" Jason's eyes widen.

"Who the hell taught you  _that?_ "

"Dami."

"Megan. Hand him over. It's time for a spanking." Jason growls, reaching to grab his brother. Megan holds Dick away from Jason.

"No! Don't hurt him! He's just grumpy because he's sleepy!" She cries, clinging to him protectively.

"I don't care! He needs to be taught manners!" Jason hisses, earning a snort from Roy.

" _You're_  going to teach him manners? You have none yourself!"

"Shut up!"

"What's going on here?" They all freeze in horror from the voice of the Bat. Bruce frowns, looking over at Dick. "We're going home. Alfred still needs to bandage your leg."

"I'm not going." Dick huffs, looking away from his father. Bruce's eyes narrow.

"Richard John Grayson. We are heading home.  _Now_. Don't make me say it again." Bruce's voice drops an octave, instilling terror in the other heroes in the parlor. Dick shrinks back, hanging his head in defeat.

"Sorry, Daddy."

"Now, apologize to Jason." Bruce nods towards his rogue son, who looked as though he was ready to make a run for it.

"I'm sorry, Jay." Dick murmurs sadly. Bruce sighs, taking his son from the still frozen martian.

"I'll take him home. The rest of you, aside from Jason; get out of my city." With that, the billionaire turns swiftly and walks out of the ice cream parlor. Dick looks up at his father shyly as he snuggles closer to his father.

"Sorry for leaving without telling anyone…"

"It's alright. Just don't do it again." The toddler nods, letting out a huge yawn.

"I love you, Daddy." Bruce smiles softly, gently ruffling his son's hair. Dick beams up at him, hearing the unspoken, but understood 'I love you, too'.

"Get some sleep." Dick nods, drifting off as Bruce tucks his jacket around the toddler to keep him warm.

* * *

Tim and Damian sit quietly in the kitchen, each sipping on a steaming mug of hot chocolate. "I still can't believe that Bruce beat us to it." Tim grumbles, stuffing another cookie into his mouth.

"I can. He's Father."

"True…what do you think he told the reporters to leave?"

"Who knows. However, I am certain that we will hear about it tomorrow on the news." Tim nods in agreement, glancing at the calendar on the fridge.

"It's Halloween tomorrow…"

"And?"

"If Dick is still a toddler, I'm sure he'll want to go trick-or-treating." Damian raises an eyebrow.

"What are you getting at, Todd?"

"He doesn't have a costume! And who is going to take him?"

"You're serious."

"Of course I am! Halloween is one of his favorite holidays!"

"Every holiday is his favorite." The two pause, hearing the door slam followed by a disgruntled looking Jason appearing in the kitchen. He heads straight for the fridge, and grabs a beer. "What crawled up your ass and died this evening?" Jason shoots the youngest bird a dark glare.

"I had to deal with the toddler from hell for an hour before Bruce showed up and saved the day."

"What are you talking about?" Tim asks, taking another cookie.

"Dick! I accidently woke him up and he became a demon child! He was screaming and bawling! Then, he called me an asshole! It's all your fault, Damian!" Damian rolls his eyes as he takes another sip of his hot chocolate.

"What he chooses to call you has nothing to do with me."

"It has everything to do with you when he learned the word from  _you_!"

"Stop fighting…it's been a long day…let's all just get some sleep."

"Agreed." Damian states, setting his now empty mug down on the counter. He slips out of the room as the other two birds sigh heavily. They follow suit shortly after. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

The next morning, the thee birds sit at the counter in the kitchen along with their father. Bruce turns the page of his newspaper, not missing the curious stares he was getting from his sons. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Where's Dick?" Tim asks, deciding to try to get rid of the elephant in the room.

"Sleeping."

"…Where?"

"My room. He was still asleep when I left." Tim frowns.

"You let him sleep in the same bed as you?"

"He's five. I wanted to make sure he was safe."

"You're such a pushover." Jason grumbles, stealing a slice of toast. "All I know is, there's no way in hell I'm waking him up ever again." They all pause, hearing a small voice yelling from upstairs for 'Daddy'. "Ah…speak of the devil. It appears that you're being summoned." Bruce rolls his eyes, setting his newspaper down. He gets up and heads up the stairs, returning shortly after with a happy looking toddler in his arms. Dick beams, looking down at all of the food that was set out on the counter.

"I was good! I didn't walk, just like you wanted!" He chirms, as Bruce sets him down on the counter, being weary of the new cast on the toddler's left leg.

"Shouldn't he be in a chair?" Tim asks, frowning at the fact that Dick was crawling over to the plates of food, about to put his hands all over it.

"He's too small to fit in any of chairs." Bruce states as if it were obvious. Jason snickers, elbowing Tim in the ribs.

"See? Pushover." Dick pauses, a strip of bacon hanging from his mouth as he glances over to the calendar. His eyes light up excitedly as he finishes off the bacon.

"It's Halloween! Can we go trick-or-treating? Please?" He begs, looking up at Bruce with his best puppy eyes.

"You don't have a costume." Bruce states, not looking up at his son from the newspaper he had just picked back up. Dick looks down devastatedly.

"But…I thought we could go as a family…now that everyone's here and all…" Bruce sighs heavily, knowing defeat was imminent.

"Very well. We can get a costume this afternoon. What do you want to be?" Dick's face instantly brightens as he flips over the plate of pancakes, landing on his good leg, and leaps into Bruce's arms. The Bat catches him easily, raising an eyebrow.

"Thank you so much, Daddy!" Dick wraps his arms as far as they would go around the billionaire. "I wanna be a Ninja Turtle this year! Wouldn't it be so much fun if we could all dress up too?" The three birds look over at their father darkly as Bruce smirks.

"Whatever you want, Dick. You can even pick out the costumes your brothers are wearing." Dick squeaks in delight.

"You're the best Daddy, EVER!" He giggles excitedly, kissing Bruce's cheek. Bruce chuckles lightly, relishing in the evil looks he was receiving from his other sons. Making Dick happy was worth it. Not to mention the fact that he was going to have Alfred take lots of pictures of them all together. Oh yes. It would be wonderful blackmail material for later.


	22. Halloween

Bruce, Jason, Tim, and Damian arrive at the luxury costume shop with Dick happily in his father's arms. "Sorry. We don't have any more costumes." One of the store clerks states boredly, waving them off. Bruce raises an eyebrow.

"Really? Because there are plenty right behind you." The man turns to look at them and his eyes widen in shock.

"Oh! Mr. Wayne! I'm so sorry! We've had hoodlums trying to get all of our costumes at a discounted price. We still have the best for you, of course." He jumps up from his post and starts taking them to the back. "And who's this little guy?" The clerks asks, glancing at Dick curiously.

"I'm babysitting for a friend." Bruce states quickly, shifting Dick in his arms, who was eyeing all of the costumes excitedly.

"All of the young boy costumes are right over here." The clerk states, gesturing over to the rack. "Is there anything else I can help you with, Mr. Wayne?"

"We have it from here. Thank you." Bruce states politely, putting up his best fake smile. The clerk nods, scurrying off obediently as Jason rolls his eyes.

"What a tool."

"Just let it go, Jay." Tim states, starting to browse through the costumes. Dick squirms in Bruce's grasp, wanting to look around.

"Just no running, alright?" Bruce commands, earning a nod from the toddler. He gently sets Dick down, who slowly limps over to all of the costumes, his eyes bright with excitement.

"Can I try on other costumes? There are so many!" Bruce smiles softly, nodding, earning a blinding smile from his son. "Thank you, Daddy! Oh! I know! How about Jay, Timmy, and Dami pick out one for me to try on?" Jason smirks, starting to look through the racks.

"Hah! This one is  _perfect_! Come on! Let me help you!" He chimes, ushering Dick into the dressing room as the others stare at him curiously. Several minutes later, they reemerge, with Jason standing in front of the toddler to hide him. "Presenting…the Mini Supes~!" He steps aside, revealing Dick in a Superman costume. It was complete with padded muscles and Jason had slicked Dick's hair back and left a curly strand of hair in front. Tim, Damian, and Jason snicker as Bruce's eye twitches in annoyance. "Isn't he adorable, Bruce?" The rogue asks, a devious smirk on his face.

"Do you like it, Daddy?" Dick asks innocently, playing with his cape.

"It's…cute." Bruce states, looking away. "Tim, Damian. Why don't you two pick something for him too?" Tim grins, starting to look at the costumes as Damian sighs, starting to look as well. Damian and Tim both find one at the same time, glaring at each other as to who was going to go first. The youngest bird shoves Tim and Jason out of the way, dragging Dick into the dressing room as the toddler giggles happily. A couple minutes later, Damian walks back out and steps aside, to reveal his brother. Dick beams in a miniature Batman costume complete with a functioning utility belt.

"Look, Daddy! We match! And the belt works too! I can hide extra candy and snacks in here!" Bruce smirks.

"I prefer this one." Tim crosses his arms.

"Why would you choose  _that_  one, Damian? He's already Batman!"

"That is what makes it more appropriate. He should be nothing other than in his true costume. It would be ridiculous to try to fit him into his actual one." Damian states as if it were obvious. Tim raises an eyebrow.

"Apparently you don't understand the concept of Halloween."

"I understand it perfectly fine. Children dress up in costume and parade around the streets, bothering other citizens for candy. The whole holiday is absurd. No doubt, it was created by an obese child." Dick looks down sadly, his lower lip puffed out.

"But…I love Halloween…" He looks up at them, his eyes watering. Jason shoves Damian aside, kneeling down in front of his brother.

"Don't listen to him. He's just hateful and doesn't like candy."

"How can anyone not like candy?" Dick asks, his eyes wide in horror.

"He's a robot." Jason states seriously as Tim bursts out laughing. Dick looks between Jason and Damian in shock.

" _Really_? That's so cool! And would explain a lot…what does he run on?"

"Hot chocolate." Damian kicks Jason in the stomach, his eyes narrowed in irritation.

"I am  _not_  a robot. He is just an immiscible." Dick cocks his head to the side in confusion.

"What does that mean?"

"It means he's stupid." Tim answers, starting to usher the toddler towards the dressing room. "Now, why don't you try on my costume?"

"Kay~!" Dick giggles, happily letting his brother drag him into the dressing room yet again. When they emerge this time, the remaining birds stare at Dick in shock. He was in a miniature version of his old Robin costume. Jason twitches at the green scaly short-shorts.

"Pervert."

"Stalker." Damian mutters, as he crosses his arms. Tim frowns.

"I am not! It was his original costume! It's a classic!"

"You just want him to wear it again to fulfill your sick fantasies." Jason states, looking away in disgust. Tim's eyes widen in shock.

" _What_? No, I'm not! It's cute on him!"

"Why don't we let Grayson decide which one of them he likes better?" Damian grumbles, as Jason smirks in agreement as they all look to the toddler. Dick stares up at them like a deer in headlights.

"But…I dunno which one I like the best!"

"Just pick which costume you like better…that will determine which brother knows you better." Jason smirks, leaning against the wall. Dick looks between all the costumes nervously, not used to being under such pressure.

"Give him some time to think it over. Dick, why don't you pick out your brothers' costumes?" Bruce asks, trying to ease his sons' tension. Dick grins excitedly, limping back into the dressing room to change. Once back in his street clothes, he heads over to the rack of costumes for the older teens.

"Hmm…I know the perfect costumes!" Dick chimes, starting to sort through the costumes.

"And what do we have here?" A woman asks from behind them curiously. The birds jump, turning to face her as Bruce sighs heavily.

"Diana. You shouldn't sneak up on someone…it's rude." Wonder Woman scoffs, rolling her eyes.

"You're one to talk, Bruce…" Dick catches her eye as he tosses a costume over to Tim. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Yes." Bruce smirks as Tim stares at the pile of sequenced cloth wearily.

"How…?"

"Hatter."

"Ah…any progress on trying to get him back to normal?"

"No." Diana raises an eyebrow.

"Have you even tried?" Bruce chooses to ignore her, deciding to observe his sons instead. "Bruce." He continues ignoring her, causing her eyes to narrow. "Bruce. As adorable as he is this way, you can't leave him like this. He had his time as a child."

"I know…it's just…" He trails off, watching Dick drag Tim into the dressing room excitedly.

"You miss him."

"He used to come to me for everything when he was younger…now…he solves his own problems…he doesn't need me anymore." Diana places a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"This is Dick we're talking about…if he gets over his head, he still comes to you…he just doesn't want to disappoint you…all he's ever wanted was to make you proud of him."

"He doesn't need to worry about that."

"I know that…but  _he_  doesn't." Bruce frowns, looking away as Diana sighs. "Bruce-" She reaches out to him, but Jason bursts into hysterical laughter, interrupting them.

"Oh my GOD! That is  _perfect_!" Jason manages to get out between breathes as Dick leads Tim out of the dressing room. Tim fidgets with the long, red wig and tries to cover himself up due to the Poison Ivy costume he was wearing.

"No it's not! Dick! Why would you choose  _this_?" Tim whines, still trying to cover himself in the skimpy outfit that Dick had stuffed up top in order for it to appear as though he had breasts. Damian snickers, as Dick pouts.

"You have the most curves, so you make the best Ivy. Dami will be Harley and Jay is Catwoman." The other brothers instantly stop laughing and stare at Dick in horror.

"You're joking…right, Dickie?" Jason asks nervously. Dick shakes his head.

"No. It works out perfect! I'll be Batman, and you will be in handcuffs so it'll be like I captured you!" Damian pauses.

"You decided on my choice for you?" Dick nods again happily.

"It's my favorite!" Damian smirks, secretly happy that he was the apparent favorite brother. Jason's eyes narrow as he looks between the two.

"That's all well and good…but why do we have to be  _female_  villains?"

"Because the others scare me." Dick states quietly, staring at the ground. "They've all done very mean things to me."

"Why don't we do the Ninja Turtles thing then?" Tim asks hopefully, wanting to get out of the embarrassing costume.

"I like this idea better." Dick states happily. "And Mommy should be Auntie Shayera!" He chirps, beaming over at Diana.

"Wait a second, Dick. We can't dress as females! We have…extra parts…that will be hard to hide!" Tim mumbles nervously. Dick frowns, cocking his head to the side.

"What parts?" Jason pats Tim on the shoulder, leaning in to whisper in his ear as Damian turns bright red, looking away.

"We will have to tuck this once…for him…we can't make him cry." Tim nods slowly in agreement, looking down in shame. This Halloween was going to be the most embarrassing yet. Dick shrugs his brothers' strange behavior off, setting his sights on Bruce.

"And Daddy will be Superman!" Bruce frowns.

"I'm not dressing up." Dick pouts cutely.

"But…but we're going as a  _family_ …Daddy has to dress up too!" Diana giggles, smirking.

"Yes, Bruce. You can't crush his dreams." Bruce deflates, his eyebrows knitting.

"Fine."

* * *

A woman opens the door and her eyes light up at the people outside her door. "Oh my! What wonderful costumes!" Dick beams up at her in his Batman costume, holding up a pillow case.

"Thank you, Ma'am! Trick-or-Treat~!" She giggles, dumping handfuls of candy into his bag. Jason rolls his eyes.

"No one can resist him. This is the tenth house that practically dumped their candy bowl into his bag." Damian shrugs, still avoiding eye contact with everyone that passed.

"The faster his bag gets full, the faster we can get out of these ridiculous outfits." He fidgets, pulling on the red and black spandex that was clinging to his skin as Jason does the same with the black leather catsuit. Tim glares over at them.

"At least you don't have to wear a  _one piece_   _girls bathing suit_  covered in leaves!"

"No one recognizes you boys…relax." Diana states, smiling warmly over at Dick, who was thanking the woman for all of the candy. "We're all out here for him, after all."

"You make a good Superman, Bruce." Clark states, walking up to the group. Bruce's eye twitches in irritation.

"You tell  _anyone_  about this, and I will put Kryptonite in your coffee." He hisses as Clark chuckles.

"Stop being such a kill-joy. It's Halloween~!" Dick limps back over to everyone, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Look how much candy she gave me! She even said my costume was her favorite of the night!" He giggles. "It's going to take forever to eat all of this candy!"

"What, you're not going to share it with us?" Jason asks playfully, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I'll share!" Dick beams brightly. "You're my family, after all!" He giggles, holding his hands out to be picked up. Damian scoops him up, and starts carrying him off towards the next house. He shoots a dark glare back towards Clark.

"If I find that you have pictures from tonight, I will  _end_  you." He threatens, before starting to swiftly walk away. Clark sighs heavily.

"Like father, like son."


	23. Candy Drama

Diana giggles, taking off the winged helmet she was wearing, and places it on the kitchen counter. "You have to admit…it was fun tonight."

"I'm checking Clark's computer first thing in the morning for any evidence of tonight." Bruce mutters, crossing his arms.

"Alfred took pictures." The billionaire's eyes narrow.

"When did he manage that?" Diana smirks, crossing her arms as well.

"This is  _Alfred_  we're talking about. He has his ways…we didn't  _see_  him take them…but you know he did." Bruce sighs irritatedly, running a hand over his face.

"I should destroy all of the cameras."

"He would just buy another one…what's the harm? He just wants to remember the fun evening with his 'son' and 'grandsons'."

"…Fine…but if  _any_  of them leave this manor, there will be hell to pay."

"I'm sure he understands that."

"Master Bruce. Your presence is required in the living room." Alfred states from behind them.

"Can I get changed first?"

"I fear there is not enough time for that. Masters Tim and Jason are fighting over candy."

"I thought  _Dick_  was the one who turned into a toddler…"

"Ah…well you see, Sir, they are trying to steal Master Dick's favorite candy from each other. If we wait too much longer, they may damage the furniture." Bruce groans internally, heading into the living room. He pauses, seeing a rather adorable sight at first. Dick was curled up in Damian's lap with his head on the bird's chest in the recliner located the corner as they both slept soundly. The center of the living room, however, was a war zone. The pillows from the sofa were spread all over the room while Tim and Jason glare at each other while standing in a sea of candy wrappers.

"You're not going to eat all of those Twix, Condom Head. Hand them over!" Jason growls, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"I got them first, Dildo Head! They're MINE! I won them fair and square!"

"Bullshit! You took them from Damian once he fell asleep! The poor kid is in a sugar coma after all of those damn Nerds you gave him!"

"He'll be fine. He fell asleep, so he forfeited them."

"That's not fair! You're going to get fat if you eat all of them!"

"I'm not going to eat all of them!"

"Then what's the point of having them? It's just candy and you have your own bag!"

"I'm saving these for Dick."

"Don't hoard the candy to gain brownie points with him!"

"I'm not doing it as a bribe!"

"Like hell you're not! Damn stalker-ass! I'm showing Dick all of those pictures you have of him when he wakes up!"

"Boys. Enough." Bruce states firmly, taking another step into the room.

"He started it!" They both shout at the same time, pointing at each other.

"It doesn't matter who started it. I'm ending it. Both of you head to your rooms." Tim goes to grab his stash of Twix. "And leave the candy. You may  _all_  have some in the morning." The hacker deflates dejectedly and heads towards the stairs. Jason frowns, glaring over at his adoptive father. "Clearly you've all had too much sugar. Mind giving me a hand by taking Dick up to his room? I'll get Damian." Jason instantly relaxes, nodding.

"Sure. Sorry we made a bit of a mess."

"At least you didn't destroy anything. Pillows and candy wrappers can all be cleaned up." Jason smirks, nodding again before scooping up the sleeping toddler.

"Have any idea on how to get him back to normal? As cute as he is like this, I miss the old Golden Boy."

"I ran a sample of his blood last night. Apparently the chemicals Hatter used in his ray gun weren't meant to last very long. He should be back to normal by morning."

"You're glad he got to actually have a Halloween again…aren't you?" Jason looks up at Bruce, smirking knowingly. Bruce smirks as well, choosing not to respond as he picks up the slumbering Damian. "I'll take that as a yes." The rogue snickers as Bruce heads up the stairs with their youngest bird. Jason rolls his eyes, carrying the toddler upstairs and tucks him into his own bed.

* * *

The next morning, Damian lays his head on the kitchen counter, groaning in pain as Jason snickers. "What have you poisoned me with, Todd?"

"I didn't poison you with anything. You ate too much sugar last night and your body isn't used to it."

"Lies." Damian hisses, glaring over at his older brother. Tim walks in and takes his seat, holding his stomach in pain.

"Ugh. I ate too much candy last night…I think I'm going to puke." Alfred sets a mug down in front of each bird as they all look up at him curiously.

"Drink this. It will help with your ailments." The elderly butler states before starting to cook breakfast yet again. Damian picks up the mug warily; sniffing it to make sure it was safe. Deeming it safe, he takes a sip, nodding to himself when the warm tea actually tasted delicious. The youngest bird suddenly pauses, looking around.

"Where is Grayson?" He looks over at Bruce, who was reading the newspaper as usual.

"In his room last I checked."

"Damn! I had the  _weirdest_  dream last night!" Dick mumbles, limping into the room in a pair of loose sweatpants. The three birds look over at him in shock, recognizing the deep voice of their beloved twenty-five-year-old brother.

"He's back to normal!" Tim cheers, hopping out of his seat. He runs up to his eldest brother and tackles him in a hug. Dick chuckles, ruffling Tim's hair.

"What's gotten into you? Of course I'm normal."

"Just…don't ask." Damian mumbles, getting out of his seat as well. He walks up to Dick and stands unnecessarily close. Catching on, Dick pulls him into hug, grinning when Damian doesn't try to pull away.

"What's for breakfast? I'm starving!" Dick beams, unable to move due to his younger brothers clinging to him. Bruce glances up at him from his paper, smiling softly at the scene.

"Alfred made fresh waffles and bacon. I also called J'onn earlier this morning. He is going to come over to heal you now that your injuries have had time to heal on their own."

"Sounds great! Can't wait to actually be able to walk again. Being cooped up in this house is making me crazy!"

"I figured as much." Bruce smirks, starting to read his paper again. Jason glances slyly at their father while sipping on his coffee.

"So, Bruce…I didn't hear Diana leave last night." Bruce tenses before turning the page of his paper.

"I don't see how that is any of your concern."

"Oh, Auntie D was over last night? Why didn't she say hi?" Dick asks innocently, sitting down at the counter as his younger brothers follow suit, never straying too far from him.

"You were fast asleep and she didn't want to wake you."

"Aw. I miss all the good stuff!  _So_  unfair!"

"Well, if you are feeling better later, you can go on patrol again." Dick beams brightly.

"Awesome! I can't wait to kick some ass again! I feel like my muscles are going to mush just sitting around here!" Alfred sets plates down in front of his charges, earning grateful nods from each.

"I am glad you are feeling better, Master Dick."

"Thanks, Alfie! I am too!"


	24. Funhouse

Dick beams, waltzing out of the study where he had met with J'onn. It had taken just over two hours, but the Bat was finally completely healed. The martian follows after him to meet up with the rest of the Batfamily in the living room. Dick spins around, hugging J'onn tightly. "Thanks again for fixing me up! It's  _so_  nice to be able to move around freely again." The martian nods.

"It was not a problem. I must really be heading back." Dick smirks, releasing J'onn and takes a step back.

"Megan invited you to lunch, didn't she?" J'onn looks away awkwardly. "She texted me a little while ago. Go have lunch with your niece."

"Thank you…I am glad you are well again, my friend."

"Me too." Dick beams, before heading into the living room to see Jason flicking through the TV channels as Tim and Damian argue about something. Bruce had left earlier to get some work done at Wayne Enterprises. "What are they fighting about this time?" Dick asks Jason as he flops down beside him on the sofa. Jason glances over at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Did he fix the leg?"

"Yup! The burns are healed up as well. They left a little bit of a scar, but that's it." Dick grins, stretching out on the sofa.

"Does that mean you're coming out on patrol tonight?"

"Hell yes!" The two pause, frowning at the lack of arguing between the two birds. They look over to see Tim and Damian wrestling on the ground. Damian flips over Tim and puts him in a chokehold. "Alright. That's enough, you two." Dick mumbles as he hops off of the sofa and grabs the back of Damian and Tim's shirt, yanking them apart. They both growl in annoyance, shooting a death glare at Dick. Their eyes widen, before looking away in shame upon realizing who had pulled them apart. "Now. What were you two fighting about?" The acrobat asks, letting the two birds go.

"Damian was being a selfish little brat, as usual." Tim mutters, crossing his arms.

"Only because you were hogging the computer, you twat! I have homework to do!" Damian rages, glaring over at his older brother.

"You have your  _own_  computer! Why do you need this one?"

"Because you  _broke_  mine yesterday! You sat on it with your fat ass and crushed it!"

"You shouldn't leave it on chairs! And I don't have a fat ass!"

"Clearly you do, because it would not have broken if you did not!"

"You should have asked Bruce for another one!"

"You hogged all of his attention last night! I couldn't get a word in with all of your yapping, Drake!" Damian hisses. Dick sighs heavily, stepping between the two.

"That's enough. Damian. You can use my computer to do your homework. And Timmy…watch where you sit next time." He ruffles both of his brother's hair before walking towards the kitchen. "Now, I'm going to get some lunch…if you guys want to join me." Tim and Damian pause for a second before heading after their oldest brother.

* * *

The cool air sweeps the black cape behind him as Dick peers down at Gotham City through his cowl. He taps the comm link in his ear, activating it. "You guys having any luck?"

"Nothing here." Jason responds lazily. "Seems pretty quiet tonight."

"Could be the calm before the storm, though." Tim adds. "I don't know…something just seems off..."

"Don't know…maybe it's because this is my first patrol with everyone in so long?" Dick asks, perching on top of a gargoyle to get a better view of the city. "You find anything, Robin?" He frowns when there was no response. "Robin? Come in." Only silence greeted him. Worried, Dick hops up from his perch, whipping out his locator. "Red Robin. Red Hood. Have you guys seen Robin?"

"Haven't seen him." Jason replies.

"Ambush!" Tim calls out through the comm link. "Batman, they-" A loud explosion and the sound of fighting cuts him off. Dick dives off of the roof of the building, heading towards Tim's last known location.

"Red Hood."

"I'm on my way there no-" Jason suddenly cries out in pain. "Ah, shit!" All Dick hears is gunfire before the line goes dead.

"Shit!" Dick curses, trying to locate his brothers. His comm link crackles before a chilling cackle breaks through the static, stopping the Bat cold in his tracks.

"Hello there, Batsy. My wonderful Harley broke me out of Arkham and I thought we should have a little fun~! If you want to see your little birds again, you'll come to the location I just send you, alone. We don't want to original Bat-brain ruining our fun, now do we?"

"What do you want, Joker?" Dick growls, clenching a fist.

"To play, of course. Now, you'd better hurry up. I don't know what will happen to them if you take too long…" The clown cackles madly before cutting the comm link. Dick pulls out his locator, seeing a red dot blinking. He growls in irritation, recognizing the place. It was an abandoned amusement park. Of  _course_  Joker would choose it as his hideout. The Bat shoots out his grapping hook and takes off towards the location. He wasn't sure how long he had until Joker would start torturing them; if he hadn't already.

* * *

As soon as Dick sets foot inside the abandoned amusement park, all of the lights turn on as well as all of the rides and music. "Welcome, Batsy~! Let's see if you can find your birds before it's too late! Tick tock!" Joker's voice chimes through the loudspeaker. Dick's eyes narrow as he turns on his infrared vision in his cowl and starts racing through the grounds. Just as he turns the corner from the haunted house, an oversized mallet swings towards his head. Dick flips out of the way, tapping the side of his cowl to turn the vision back to normal. Harley smirks, holding the large mallet.

"Wrong way, B-Man!" She giggles, swinging the weapon towards him again. Dick rolls out of the way before kicking her, hard, in the stomach. She grunts in pain, stumbling into a ring toss booth. Harley glares up at him, grabbing the rings that had bladed edges. She flings them at him, but he uses his grappling hook to get above the projectiles before tossing several batarangs of his own. Harley cartwheels out of the way before trying to runs towards a shoot-out booth. He sends out a line, and it wraps around her feet, causing her to fall face first into the ground. Harley lets out a grunt from the force before trying to untie her legs. A dark shadow hovers and she gulps, looking up at the looming Bat nervously.

"Where are they?"

"I-I can't say! Puddin' will be mad at me!"

" _He_  will be the least of your worries." Dick hisses as she squeaks in terror.

"Alright! Alright! They're in the big top!" He nods before knocking her unconscious and tying her up. Dick then quickly heads to the center of the amusement park where the big top was located. He enters cautiously, unsure of Joker's plans. His eyes widen, seeing Tim, Damian, and Jason battered and bloody tied up and handing in what appeared to be a large, empty aquarium. He grunts in pain when a powerful force hits him from his side, tackling him to the ground. On instinct, he puts his arm up, only to cry out in pain when sharp fangs dig into it. The lights in the big top flick on along with Joker's laughter over the speaker. His eyes widen, seeing the fact that he was being pinned to the ground by Killer Croc.

"As you can see, I got a little help this time…I couldn't bring down this many birds all alone~!" Joker steps out into the rings, a giant, sinister smile on his lips. "Now, for the main attraction! Can Batman defeat the beast before his birds are dead?" The tank starts to fill with gas, causing the birds to start coughing roughly. Dick curses under his breath, trying to kick Killer Croc off, but the villain merely scoffs, slashing his claws at the Bat. Dick manages to lessen the blow by twisting out of the way, much to the villain's chagrin. Batman reaches for his utility belt with his other hand, and pulls out a smoke pellet. He tosses it down Killer Croc's throat, causing him to instantly release his hold on the Bat's arm and start gagging off to the side. Dick whips out a batarang, tossing it at the tank, shattering it. He then kicks Killer Croc in the stomach while he was distracted before getting out his taser. Batman shoots weapon into the villain's neck, activating the electricity. Killer Croc cries out in agony before going limp. When Dick looks back at his brothers, Joker had Damian in a chokehold with a knife to the young bird's throat.

"Let him go!" Dick roars, about to attack, but Joker presses the knife deeper.

"Ah, ah…wouldn't want anything to happen to him, do we?" Damian stirs weakly, looking over at Dick. He winces, feeling the knife against his throat. The bird stomps on Joker's foot, causing the clown to howl in pain, before he elbows the villain in the stomach. Joker stumbles back just as Damian collapses to the ground weakly, coughing from the toxins that were rushing through his system.

"Robin!" Dick runs to Damian's aid, glaring at the escaping Joker. Damian shoves Dick away weakly.

"G-Get him you i-idiot!"

"I'm not leaving you." Dick states firmly, tapping his comm link. "Oracle. I need help and fast! Red Hood, Red Robin, and Robin are down."

"I'm sending help right now. Batgirl and BlackBat are on their way now."

"Thanks. Send the cops this way too. Harley and Killer Croc are here." With that, he scoops up Damian, carrying him to their other two, unconscious brothers.

"Dumbass." Damian croaks out before going into a coughing fit. Dick holder him closer protectively, glaring after the way Joker had escaped.

"I'll get him tomorrow. Right now, you three are more important." Damian tries to say something more, but blacks out before he got the chance. Oh yes. Joker was going to be  _very_  sorry tomorrow.


	25. Calm Before the Storm

Dick looks up as two figures drop down next to him. Stephanie and Cassandra quickly rush to Tim and Jason's aid. "What happened?" Batgirl asks worriedly as she checks Tim's condition.

"Joker." Dick growls venomously. "Let's get them back to the cave. I don't know what that bastard hit them with." The women nod in agreement. Stephanie slings Tim's arm around her shoulder and hauls him up. She glances over to Cassie and her eyes widen, seeing BlackBat fling Jason over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Um. BlackBat…that's not how you carry people…" Cassie glances over at her boredly, and gestures to Jason aggressively. "I know you don't like him…and he's a douche…" Steph pauses. "You know what? Nevermind." They hear a grappling hook shoot off, and the two heroines' heads snap over to the source of the sound to see Dick already heading back to the manor. They sigh, heading off after him.

* * *

As soon as they arrive at the manor, the heroes gently lay the unconscious birds down on gurneys in the infirmary. Alfred and Leslie quickly assess them, and take blood samples to see what they were infected with. Dick clenches a fist, watching them work on his fallen brothers. Stephanie glances over at him sadly, and ushers him out of the room. Dick removes his cowl, while Stephanie and Cassie follow suit.

"What happened?" Stephanie asks worriedly. "How the hell did Joker take all three of them out like that?"

"I don't know! We split up to patrol the city. Next thing I know; they're dropping like flies! He had Killer Croc and Harley working for him. Who knows who else was in on it!" Dick rages, ripping his gloves off and throwing them across the room. Cassandra frowns, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Her eyes narrow, seeing the blood slowly dripping from the gash in his arm. She yanks him over to a free gurney and shoves him down on it. "I'm fine, Cass!" BlackBat shakes her head, pulling out the first aid kit.

"Hurt." She states quietly, starting to cleanse the wound. Dick sighs heavily, letting her work. He knew there was no way that he could get out of it. Stephanie sits down on the gurney next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"They'll be alright…don't blame yourself for this either. I know how you get." Dick looks away defiantly. She glares up at him slightly and pulls back. Stephanie turns his head to face her irritatedly. "Dick. There's  _nothing_ you could have done."

"Splitting up was  _my_  idea. If we would have stuck together, none of this would have happened!"

"The four of you staying together is stupid in Gotham. You knew they could all handle themselves and trusted them. They appreciate that. Why do you think they like patrolling with you rather than Bruce? Because you have faith in them. Don't start babying them now, or else they'll lose all respect they have for you." He frowns, looking down.

"I could have lost them…"

"Again, that's not your fault. There's no way that you could have known what Joker was planning." She smirks. "You'll get your revenge. I can promise you that. Babs is already working to track down his location." He nods slowly, wincing slightly when Cassandra starts to stitch up his wound.

"What would I do without you girls?" Stephanie grins mischievously.

"Oh, crash and burn." The three look over as Alfred emerges from the infirmary.

"We sent the blood samples to Lucius for further analysis. So far, we have found traces of Scarecrow's Fear Toxin along with an unknown chemical." Dick's eyes narrow dangerously.

"Scarecrow's involved as well?"

"It appears so, Sir. However, don't do anything rash until we have more information." Dick sighs heavily, running his free hand through his hair.

"How are they doing?"

"They are stable. Only minor injuries. Though, they have not yet regained consciousness." The Bat nods slowly.

"Where's Bruce?"

"He is on his way back now. He had to take care of some business in Metropolis."

"Thanks, Alfie." Alfred nods.

"Of course, Master Dick. I shall prepare an early breakfast for everyone." Dick smiles warmly as the butler heads up the hidden staircase. Cassandra finishes stitching him up and starts to bandage his arm as Dick sighs impatiently. She shoots him a dark glare, and he pales slightly, looking away. Stephanie giggles at their antics. After he was all bandaged up, he sighs with relief, smiling gratefully over at Cassandra.

"Thank you." She nods, before pointing to the infirmary. He gets the message, hopping off the gurney. Dick then heads into the infirmary to check on his younger brothers. He checks on Damian first. The Bat pulls up a chair and sits down next to the youngest bird's bed. Damian appeared to be the most injured out of the birds. His head was bandaged, and both arms were bandaged all the way down to his knuckles. Dick frowns, brushing Damian's raven bangs out of his eyes. Damian whimpers in his sleep, undoubtedly from a nightmare from the Fear Toxin. Dick takes his hand and squeezes it reassuringly. Tears start to trail down Damian's cheeks as a heartbroken whimper escapes his lips yet again. His eyes suddenly snap open as he screams in anguish. Dick quickly pulls him into a comforting hug.

"Shh…Dami…it's alright…" Damian looks up at him wearily before burying his face into Dick's chest to try to hide his tears. He clutches onto the front of Dick's costume as he trembles. The Bat strokes the shaken bird's hair soothingly, trying to calm him down. "I won't let that bastard hurt you again."

"D-Don't leave." Damian whispers softly. "Please. Don't leave me. You promised…" Dick's heart breaks as the young bird lets out another whimper before going limp once again.

"Dick." He jumps from Barbara's voice ringing through his comm link.

"Tell me you have good news." He mutters as he gently lies Damian's sleeping form back down on the bed.

"I have Joker's location. But he's with Scarecrow and Bane."

"Send me their location."

"Dick…you can't do this by yourself."

"Then it's a good thing Steph and Cassie are here, now isn't it?" Barbara sighs.

"Alright. As long as you take them with you for backup. I don't want you going there by yourself."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Babs." He grins, hearing her growl in warning. "Fine, fine. I'm taking them. Now, where are they?"

"The abandoned hospital in South Gotham."

"Perfect. Thanks for the help!" Dick taps his ear, disconnecting the comm link. Stephanie and Cassandra walk into the infirmary, munching on a freshly baked cookie. Cassandra holds out one to Dick, who beams, taking it gratefully. "Good news, ladies! We get to kick more ass tonight. Babs found Joker. He's working with Scarecrow and Bane."

"Perhaps you should rest for tonight, Master Dick." Alfred states, walking into the room as well. "You have all had a very long evening."

"No can do, Alfie. I have a lead, and I'm sure as hell not going to let Joker slip away from me again." With that, Dick flips his cowl back on and heads for the Batmobile. Stephanie and Cassandra share a worried look before following after the Bat.


	26. Creepy Places

 

The three heroes land soundlessly on the helipad of the abandoned hospital in rundown, South Gotham. Dick quickly looks for an entrance as Cassandra does the same. Stephanie sighs heavily, eyeing the decrepit rooftop.

"Why do they always have to choose the creepiest places?"

"Probably because  _they're_  creepy." Dick states slightly irritatedly, clearly not amused. He heads over to the roof entrance and starts trying to pick the rusty lock. Cassandra walks up to him, after several minutes him struggling with the door, and easily turns the knob. The door creaks open as BlackBat rolls her eyes, walking in. Dick pouts slightly, putting his lock-pick away as Stephanie giggles. "Not a word." He mutters as she holds her hands up in defense, trying to stifle her laughter. The two join Cassie inside and do a quick sweep of the area for any thugs. Much to their surprise, there were no goons in sight. "Split up and maintain radio contact. Just remember; Joker is  _mine_." He hisses before disappearing into the darkness. Stephanie rolls her eyes, sighing heavily.

"Yes, boss." Cass smacks the blonde's arm, her eyes narrowing meaningfully. "I know, he's stressed out. I just hate it when he's pissed. He's no fun." BlackBat nods slowly before disappearing herself.

* * *

Alfred's eyes widen in surprise as Barbara wheels into the cave, looking rather angry.

"How long ago did he leave?" The butler frowns, looking down at his watch.

"I would say about half an hour ago, now. Is there something you needed to discuss with him?"

"He  _did_  take Steph and Cassie with him, right?"

"Yes, he did Miss Barbara. I am certain that they will all return home safely. Master Bruce is also on his way there to back them up." Barbara nods, sighing heavily.

"The way he just runs off without having a plan worries me…we still don't know what toxin we're dealing with."

"Master Dick deals with uncertainties all of the time. Why don't you wait here with me for them? It should help easy your mind." Alfred smiles warmly, leading Barbara over to the infirmary where the fallen birds were still asleep. "I just made a fresh pot of coffee. I would love to hear all about the new base for the Birds of Prey." Barbara beams.

"You always know how to cheer me up, Alfred." The butler nods, a gentle smile on his face as he pours the redhead a cup of coffee.

"I would like to think that I know how to lighten the mood of every member of this family." She giggles, taking the mug from the butler.

"You certainly do. Not to mention the fact that you keep us all in line!"

"Now, I wouldn't say that."

"Oh, don't be modest." She waves her hand dismissively as she takes a sip before filling Alfred in on all the details of the new base.

* * *

Dick tosses a smoke pellet before diving out of the way of the oncoming bullets. Bane's thugs had found him and starting shooting before he could inform the others.

"I hear gunfire, Bats! Is everything alright?" Stephanie calls out through the comm link worriedly.

"I'm fine! Hold on a sec." He flips into the air as the thugs were distracted and spin-kicks the first thug in the face. Dick then shoves his first victim's unconscious body into the others, sending them staggering back. The Bat whips out several batarangs and tosses them at the unsuspecting thugs. They all grunt in pain as they hit them in the head. The goons fall unconscious as Dick sighs, slipping back into the shadows. "Haven't found any of the main players yet. Any luck on your end?"

"Nope." Stephanie drawls. "Took out a few thugs here and there. Sounds like BlackBat has been doing the same."

"Bane." Cassandra suddenly states as they hear Bane yelling something in the background.

"Ah. Looks like she found one." Steph states.

"Keep looking. The others are bound to be here somewhere."

* * *

Barbara and Alfred jump as Damian jolts awake, yelling something in Arabic. The young bird's gaze whips around the room frantically before his eyes focus on the elderly butler.

"Where is Grayson?" Damian mutters; his voice shakier than usual. Alfred frowns, setting his mug down, and heads over to the frightened boy.

"He went after the Joker, Master Damian. Though, he should return shortly."

"He…he left me?" Damian whimpers, starting to tremble as the shadows around him start to form into large monsters with razor sharp claws and fangs dripping with fresh blood. "He promised he wouldn't leave me!"

"He will be back, Master Damian. I can assure you of that. He would never abandon you in your time of need. You know that." The bird nods slowly, wrapping his arms around his torso and pulls his knees to his chest in attempts to make himself smaller.

"It's a trap…" He whimpers. "He knew Grayson would go after him…be angry…make mistakes…he doesn't know it's a trap…" Damian takes a deep breath to try to steady his nerves. "Have to go bring him home." He starts trying to get out of bed, but Barbara quickly wheels over to the bed and helps Alfred get the bird tucked back in.

"Bruce is already on his way to help them right now…just try to lay back and gets some rest and Dick will be back before you know it." Barbara states softly, knowing all too well what fear toxin could do to the mind.

"…Have to go after him…" Damian mumbles, starting to drift back to sleep. Tim suddenly starts thrashing in his sleep, and Alfred quickly runs over to him to try to help. Barbara holds the youngest bird's hand as he still tries to fight off the drowsiness. Alfred and Barbara share a worried look before tending to the birds again. They hoped Lucius could come up with an antidote quickly.

* * *

Cassandra grabs Bane's arm as he throws a punch and uses it as a springboard to flip over the giant villain. Bane growls in annoyance, spinning around, and tries to punch her again. She ducks down and sweeps his feet out from under him. Just as she was walking up to him to restrain him, he grabs her leg, and flings her against the wall. She winces in pain, as he pins her against the wall by her throat. Her eyes narrow and she grabs his hand, snapping all of fingers back quickly. Bane cries out in pain, dropping her to the ground. BlackBat quickly whips out her batarangs and slices the tubes containing Venom that was connected to the base of the villain's skull. He holds his head, screaming in agony, as his muscles start to shrink back to normal. She quickly spin-kicks him in the face, knocking him unconscious before tapping the comm link in her ear.

"Detained."

"That was quick!" Steph calls out. "I just found Scarecrow. Standby." Cassandra nods to herself before starting to restrain the unconscious Bane.

* * *

Batgirl quickly puts her gas mask on just as Scarecrow sprays his fear gas at her. She chuckles at his antics before running at him, full force. He smirks, pulling out several syringes, and tosses them at her. Steph dives out of the way as the projectiles get embedded into the wall. He pulls out more syringes as she runs at him again. She dodges them easily, but dives out of the way when he slashes at her with the large syringes on his fingers. Batgirl shoots out a line that wraps itself around his legs, and yanks, causing him to fall to the ground roughly. Before he could get up, she flips over to him and kicks him in the head, smashing his gas mask.

"All clear. Just rounding him up now. How are things going, Bats?"

* * *

Dick's eyes narrow as he sees a shadow dart around the corner. He follows the figure cautiously, but his eyes narrow when he hears the door shut behind him. The lights flick on to reveal an abandoned operating room. The gurney was tattered, and rusty surgical tools were scattered all over the floor. To finish off the look, blood was splattered all over the walls with some of the tiles missing from not only the walls, but the ceiling as well.

"You're not getting away this time, Joker." Dick growls as he looks around the room for the psychotic clown. He frowns as he hears a familiar hissing noise. Acting quickly, he whips out his gas mask and puts it on. The Joker's signature cackle suddenly fills the room as the lights in the observation deck above the operating room turn on. Joker looks down at him from behind the glass and smirks darkly.

"How's it hanging, Batsy? Are your birds dead yet? You know…they never compared to you…you were the first birdie and the only birdie in my eyes…that's why it's going to be so much fun to kill you~!" Dick's eyes narrow as he takes out his grappling hook and shoots it at the glass Joker was standing behind. He frowns when the claw merely bounces off. "Oh, and I made some modifications. Can't have you ruining the party so early, now can I?"

"What do you want?" Dick hisses, starting to get impatient.

"To watch you suffer, of course~! I thought it was obvious. Oh. And not to mention the fact that you're going to be bait for the Old Bat. He's already on his way here." Dick glares, whipping out a batarang, and tosses it at the glass. Joker rolls his eyes, laughing once again. "I thought you would have realized that you can't reach my by now." The clowns eyes widen as the batarang gets embedded into the thick glass ever so slightly and starts beeping. He dives out of the way just as it explodes, sending shards of glass scattering everywhere. The Clown Prince gulps when he sees a very angry Bat towering over him.

"Change of plans.  _I'm_  going to be the one making  _you_  suffer." Dick snarls, yanking Joker up by his purple jacket. The clown reaches for the flower on his jacket, but Dick snatches Joker's arm before he could reach it. "I don't think so." The Bat punches him, hard, in the face, instantly breaking his nose. Joker cries out in pain, clawing at Dick's arms. He winces as the villain rips open the fresh stitches in his arm. The acrobat tosses the clown into the air, and kicks him in the stomach, sending him crashing into the wall. He then takes Joker and tosses him from the observation deck, down to the operating room floor. The villain tries to drag himself up, but the Bat was already on him, and kicks him back to the ground. Joker starts laughing uncontrollably as Dick frowns.

"I guess we're all going to die here, then~!"

"What?" Dick quickly looks around the room and his eyes widen in horror, seeing a large clock ticking on the wall. The entire hospital was rigged to blow.

"Tell me, Batsy…do you have enough time to make sure everyone is out before we die  _and_  get your revenge?" Dick punches him unconscious before tapping his comm link.

"Girls. We have a  _big_  problem."


	27. Ruins

 

"Is there any way you girls can get out in under a minute?" Dick asks hurriedly as he rushes over to the clock to try to disarm it.

"Nope. Sadly Scarecrow decided to show up on the psych ward. No windows." Stephanie states as she starts to drag her unconscious villain towards the stairs.

"No." Cassandra mutters as well, having found Bane in the basement. Dick frowns at their answers, not the mention the fact that it was impossible to disarm the device in time.

"The place is rigged to blow. If you can't get out, then find a secure place and take cover. We have thirty seconds." He calls out to them as he sprints over to Joker, and drags him with him as he races to find cover.

"What the hell? What about you? Can you find cover in time?" Steph asks in a panic as she hurries to find shelter as well.

"Don't worry about me. Everyone keep your radios open. Make contact after the explosion. Be safe." Was all that the Bat had time to get out before the building explodes.

* * *

Bruce winces as he gets blown back from the force of the explosion. He was just approaching the hospital when it suddenly exploded. Once he gains his bearings, he looks up at the ruins in horror. The original Bat quickly taps the comm link in his ear, activating it as he carefully starts making his way into the still smoking heap of rubble.

"Batman? Come in. What's your location?" He frowns when he gets no response before calling the Batcave. "Alfred. I need you to get a lock on everyone's locator right away."

"Is everything alright?" Barbara answers the call instead, much to the Bat's surprise.

"No. There was an explosion. I don't know if they got out in time." Bruce grinds out, clenching a fist. He couldn't lose them.

"I'm on it! Give me a sec!" She calls out, starting to type on the computer rapidly.

"What are you doing at the cave?"

"I wanted to help out since all the birds were down. Alfred's with them now. Ah! Got them. Cassandra is the closest to you. She's one hundred feet towards your two o'clock." Bruce takes off in that direction, hoping that he wasn't too late.

* * *

Dick coughs roughly, as he stirs. He feels his head, and frowns when his hand comes back wet. His eyes widen when he hears a familiar psychotic laugh before feeling a sharp pain in his back along with pressure.

"Time for you to die now, fake Batsy~!" Joker chimes as he twists the knife in Dick's back. The acrobat grunts in pain before twisting around and throwing the mad man off of him. His eyes narrow dangerously as he rips the knife out of his back and throws it at Joker. The clown dives out of the way in the limited space. The building had collapsed around them, but a large metal beam held the rubble from crashing down on the two. "You should have let me die. What a foolish Bat." Dick smirks darkly as he pulls out his trusted Eskrima sticks.

"No. You're going to  _wish_  you were dead by the time I'm done with you. And may God have mercy on you if anything happened to my partners." Joker's eyes widen before an Eskrima stick suddenly connects with the side of his head faster than he could react. The clown stumbles back and tries to catch himself, but Dick was already in front of him and bashes one of his Eskrima sticks into Joker's face and the other into his stomach. Joker coughs roughly, having the wind knocked out of him. Without letting up, Dick rushes at him again, pounding on the clown with his Eskrima sticks in quick succession with devastating power.

"B-Bats." Stephanie's weak voice over the comm link causes him to pause.

"Batgirl. Are you alright? What's your location?" He turns away as Joker falls to the ground limply.

"Can't move….and I don't know where I am…" She coughs, whimpering in pain. Dick's heart clenches as he whips out his locator.

"Don't move. I'm coming to you." He sends one last vicious glare towards the unconscious and bloody Joker before quickly tying him up and taking off towards Stephanie's signal.

* * *

Bruce hauls a large piece of concrete out of the way and lets out a sigh of relief when he sees Cassandra lying on the ground with only minor cuts and bruises. He rushes over to her and scoops her up as he presses a button on his glove, calling the Batwing closer.

* * *

Dick literally drags the unconscious Joker through the rubble as he heads closer and closer to Stephanie's location. After what seemed like hours, he finally comes across a familiar boot sticking out from underneath a large piece of concrete.

"Batgirl!" He calls out as he drops the rope he was dragging Joker with and rushes over to her. She looks up at him and sighs with relief. He looks over the damage, his eyes narrowing in rage.

"It's not as bad as it looks." She tries to comfort him, but the icy glare she receives quickly causes her to shut her mouth.

"I should have seen this coming. Stupid!" Dick grumbles, starting to haul the concrete off. He finally shoves it out of the way as she screams in agony. His eyes widen in horror when he sees a five inch metal pipe logged through her left leg. "Shit." He tears off part of his tattered cape and uses it to create a tourniquet.

"You're bleeding too." She breathes through her clenched teeth, not missing the blood stain on his back.

"Don't worry about me. We can't take this out, or you'll bleed to death. I'm going to cut it so that we can move you, alright?" She nods as he pulls out a laser cutter from his utility belt. "Where's Scarecrow?"

"On the right. Think I got the worst of it though." He starts cutting through the pipe as she gasps, squeezing her eyes shut in pain.

"Sorry."

"It's fine…did you get Joker?" He nods, gesturing back to the bloody lump behind him. "What the hell did you do to him?"

"Don't worry about him. Have you heard from Cass?" She shakes her head slowly. They both tense as they hear rubble being moved in front of them. Dick gets in front of her protectively, wincing when he feels the stab wound tear open wider from the sudden movement. He collapses to his knees weakly. The adrenaline was starting to leave his system, causing him now to feel the full effects of the wound and blood loss.

"Dick!" Steph cries out in worry, trying to move to help him, but she hisses when pain shoots up her impaled leg. The debris in front of them finally gives way to reveal Bruce with the Batwing not far behind him. It was clear that he was using the jet to clear the way for him. The two wounded heroes let out a shaky breath of relief upon seeing the familiar face. Bruce quickly rushes over to Dick, who waves him off.

"Help Stephanie first. She's trapped…I tried to cut the pipe but-" He suddenly leans away from Bruce and retches. The original Bat frowns in concern, but Dick shakes his head. "It's just a concussion." Bruce nods slowly before making his way over to Stephanie. He picks up the discarded laser cutter, and resumes cutting the pipe. Dick stumbles to his feet and grabs the unconscious villains, starting to drag them towards the Batwing. "Did you find Cass?"

"Yes. She's already in the jet along with Bane. Thankfully she only appears to have minor injuries. I'm still going to have her checked out back at the cave just to be certain." Bruce finally frees Stephanie's leg and carefully scoops her up, carrying her towards the Batwing. He frowns at the lack of response from his son, and quickens his pace. Once on board, his eyes widen, seeing Dick lying on the ground, unconscious. He gently sets Steph down and rushes over to the console, entering in the coordinates for the cave.

* * *

As soon as they arrive at the cave, Leslie and Alfred both had gurneys waiting for the injured. Bruce scoops up Stephanie up again and lays her down on a gurney. Alfred wheels her away as Bruce scoops up Dick and lays him down as well on the waiting bed. He then makes his way towards the back of the jet and retrieves Cass. Bruce brings her to the infirmary as Leslie wheels Dick into the infirmary. The billionaire's eyes narrow at the now full felicity. Almost every member of his family was injured in some way because of the Joker. After laying Cassandra down on the only remaining bed, he heads back to the jet to take care of the criminals without a word.

* * *

Barbara wheels into the infirmary along with Lucius and gasps at the new amount of people in the beds.

"What the hell happened?"

"It appears that Master Damian was correct in his assumption that it was a trap." Alfred states as he finishes bandaging up Cassandra. "They were trapped in an explosion."

"My God…are they all alright?" Lucius asks as makes his way forward, setting his bag down on the counter.

"Yes. They will all be just fine. Ms. Cassandra received only minor scrapes and bruises. Ms. Stephanie has a rather large wound in her left leg accompanied by cuts and bruises. Master Dick has a rather severe concussion and a stab wound in his back. They are all patched up and resting now."

"I'm glad they're alright…" Lucius states as he starts to take syringes out of his bag. "I finally managed to create an antidote for Joker's new toxin." Barbara makes her way over to Dick and frowns as she brushes his bangs out of his face.

"We should have listened to Damian and sent them more backup…"

"Master Bruce was on his way to back them up. Even if we sent more, there is no way that they would have made it to their location in time." Alfred explains as he walks over to Lucius to help him administer the antidote. "For now, we must be grateful that they all returned to us in one piece." Barbara nods slowly, taking Dick's hand and squeezing it softly.

"I know…" She sighs. "I guess now it's just a waiting game."

"Indeed." Alfred agrees, heading over to Tim to give him the antidote as Lucius works on Damian.


	28. Reminisce

Dick starts awake to the sound of familiar shriek. He sits up, looking around quickly, ignoring the fact that the room was spinning. His eyes land on Stephanie, who was trying to fend Damian off with one of her crutches. The youngest bird was busy throwing everything in the vicinity at her.

"Stop it, you little freak! I'm trying to help you!" She shrieks, nearly falling over as she tries to balance on one crutch.

"Lies!" Damian hisses, picking up a tray full of scalpels.

"I need to give you the next injection that Lucius sent over!"

"No! He didn't bring it over! You're trying to take my blood so that Mother can clone me again!" Damian picks up a scalpel, ready to fling it at the blonde. Before he could throw the weapon, Dick appears in front of Stephanie, frowning at his younger brother.

"Dami…it's alright…" Dick states calmly, holding his hands up in peace. "No one is trying to clone you. She's just trying to help you…you're still under the effects of the modified fear toxin." Damian's eyes focus on the crisp white bandages on his older brother's head. The bird's grip instinctively tightens around the scalpel.

"You're hurt."

"I'm fine." Damian's eyes narrow at Dick's attempt to brush the injury off.

"Who did it?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Grayson." Damian growls, clenching his jaw.

"Yes~?" Dick drawls, beaming innocently. Damian's eye twitches in annoyance.

"Tt." The bird looks away, dropping the weapon and tray of scalpels as Stephanie sighs in relief. "Just don't let Big Tits near me." He grumbles, sitting back on his bed. The blonde glowers at the bird, about to retaliate, but Dick glances back at her, shaking his head.

"Just leave him be. I'll give him the injection. Why don't you go tend to Timmy?" Stephanie's eyes light up happily. Before Dick had a chance to blink, the blonde thrusts the capped syringe into his hand and limps as quickly as she could over to Tim's sick bed. The acrobat rolls his eyes, turning back towards his scowling little brother.

"If you think I'm going to let you get anywhere near me with that; then you are sorely mistaken." Damian seethes, his eyes focusing on the dreaded syringe.

"Dami…it's going to help you." Damian's eyes narrow defensively as Dick takes another step forward. The acrobat quickly flicks something at the bird from his pocket. Damian frowns; catching the pen as Dick suddenly lunges forward and injects the ruffled bird while he was distracted. Damian hisses, feeling the needle puncture his skin and tries to kick his older brother away. Dick merely grins, flipping back, having successfully given the youngest bird the antidote.

"I can't believe he didn't maim you." Stephanie muses from the side of Tim's bed, watching Dick toss the syringe into the sharps container.

"You just have to be fast." He shrugs, frowning when he Leslie running in, waving her arms at him frantically.

"You can't be jumping around! That knife wound was a hair's breath away from your spine! You need to be resting!" She hisses as Dick's smile slowly fades, noticing that the room suddenly seemed to drop in temperature.

"Thanks for patching me up, Leslie…but I'm fine. Really."

"I had to give you two blood transfusions. You're anything but fine, Richard." He flinches at the venom in her voice before glancing slowly over to Damian, feeling the temperature drop even more. The acrobat pales slightly, seeing the bird nearly shaking in rage.

"The Joker is  _mine_." The ex-assassin seethes, clenching a fist.

"Damian-"

"Is the Little Demon about to go on a killing spree?" Jason asks as he makes his way over to them, smirking.

"I certainly hope not." Alfred states from behind them, holding a tray of mugs filled with his famous hot chocolate. Dick beams, the tense atmosphere broken by the butler's presence.

"You always have perfect timing, Alfie." The acrobat takes a mug sipping on it happily. Jason rolls his eyes, taking one as well.

"You're just too predictable, Dickie Bird." The rogue bird snickers as Dick pouts, sipping on his hot chocolate. Damian walks up to them, and roughly shoves Jason out of the way to get a mug of his own. Jason stumbles back, flailing his arms to try to catch his balance. Much to Tim's dismay, Jason forgot that he was holding a steaming mug of chocolately goodness, which flies out of the cup and all over the last approaching bird. Tim cries out in pain, having just been scalded with hot chocolate. Jason glances over at the drenched tech wiz and bursts out laughing as Dick frowns, grabbing a towel and starts trying to dry him off as Stephanie squeaks, limping over to try to help.

"It's not funny, Jay! He could have been hurt!" Dick mumbles, shooting a glare at his rogue brother.

"We get shot at every day. A little bit of hot chocolate isn't going to kill him." Jason snickers as Damian quietly sips his coco, his lips twitching upwards slightly from the display.

"You're so not helping." Dick grumbles, ushering Tim towards the showers. Stephanie hobbles after them, her crutches forgotten.

"Do you need help~?"

"NO!" Dick and Tim shout out in unison, causing the blonde to pout.

"Pervert." Jason snickers, causing Stephanie to punch him in the arm.

"Jackass." She mumbles, limping out of the room. The two remaining birds jump, suddenly hearing Tim's panicked cry from the showers. Tim comes out rushing out, dripping wet, dragging an unconscious Dick along with him.

"What did you do to him?" Damian hisses as he runs up to them along with Jason.

"I didn't do anything! He just passed out!" Tim rambles, trying to shake the Bat awake. They hear a sigh behind them and glance back to see Alfred, setting his silver tray down.

"It appears Master Bruce may have overdone it with the painkillers." Tim looks up at him in shock.

"You two drugged him? How did you even know which mug he would take?" Alfred merely raises an eyebrow at the bird's tone, causing Tim to look away. Of course. Alfred knew everything.

"Master Bruce and I thought it would be best for Master Dick to rest. We all know that the only way to get Master Dick to do that is to resort to medication." Alfred turns his gaze to the birds as he walks over to them, gently taking Dick from their grasp. "As for the rest of you; I expect you to be in bed by the time I return." All three birds stiffen as Alfred starts to drag Dick off to get him into some dry clothes. Jason sighs, running a hand through his hair.

"Well…Alfred is as scary as ever." The other two nod as they head back to their beds in the infirmary.

"You're more than welcome to leave, Todd." Damian snaps, crossing his arms as he glares over at his older brother.

"And break Dickie Bird's heart? I can't do something like that, now can I?"

"Just what makes you think Dick cares so much about you? I've been around him longer." Tim states, trying to dry himself off with a towel. Jason snorts at the comment.

"I've  _known_  him longer, Condom Head." Tim twitches at the nickname.

"I don't wear that costume anymore, Dildo Head!"

"I am clearly Grayson's favorite partner. I don't bicker like a child." Damian huffs, earning a glare from the other two.

"You  _are_  a child! He probably just feels responsible for you because Bruce all but disowned you!" Tim hisses viciously.

"He respects me more than you!" Damian snaps as Jason laughs harshly.

"You don't know anything about him."

"Oh? And what makes  _you_  the expert on Dick?" Tim challenges, setting his towel down in irritation. Jason smirks, leaning back on the bed.

"Because I was there during his falling out with Bruce…you two only know the happy, optimistic Golden Boy…he wasn't always like that…"

* * *

_A thirteen year old Jason sits in the Batcave, posing in front of the mirror in his Robin costume for the first time, when someone suddenly comes storming into the cave. He glances over curiously to see a rather muscular, tan, eighteen year old male fuming as he enters the cave. His shoulder length black hair was ruffled from the motorcycle helmet he held in his hand. Not far behind him was Bruce, looking less than pleased._

" _Dick! You can't just barge in here anymore!" Bruce yells at the eighteen year old, who glares over at his father figure._

" _Why? Because I'm_ _ **fired**_ _? I just came to get my stuff. Unless I'm not_ _ **allowed**_ _to even set foot in the cave anymore?" Dick challenges, glowering over at Bruce. Jason watches the two in shock. He had never heard anyone talk back to Bruce and not suffer his wrath._

" _That's not what I meant-" Dick's eyes land on Jason and the man seems to become even more enraged._

" _I see. You just wanted to replace me with a younger model. For God's sake Bruce! He's just a child!"_

" _You were just a child."_

" _I had a reason! This is just some kid you picked up on the street! I get shot_ _ **once**_ _and all of a sudden I'm incompetent?" Dick hisses, his grip tightening around his helmet._

" _I've been training him for some time now…he's ready to go out on patrol with me. He has potential." Bruce tries. Jason doesn't miss the heartbroken expression that flickers across Dick's face before becoming a stony mask._

" _You're going to get him killed. He's not cut out for this life. You're a fool for bringing him into this."_

" _Then leave Gotham! You wanted to branch out so badly? Fine. If I catch you running around Gotham in a costume; I'll personally throw you into Arkham."_

" _Fuck you! This kid's blood is on your hands then! I_ _ **warned**_ _you!" Dick shouts, putting his helmet on before storming over to one of the motorcycles and speeding off. Jason stares between the retreating motorcycle and Bruce, his mouth gaping open. Bruce stares after his eldest son solemnly before seeming to snap out of it and focus his steely gaze on the bird._

" _Stop posing in front of the mirror and get ready to go." He snaps, storming off to the dressing room._

" _I didn't imagine meeting Dick like that…" Jason grumbles while fussing with his cape._

* * *

_Eight months later, Jason lurks in the shadows of the Batcave, hearing Bruce arguing with someone. He frowns, recognizing the voice of none other than Superman._

" _You haven't even tried to contact him! He needs help, Bruce!" Clark shouts, clearly worried about whoever they were talking about._

" _He made his choice when he left." Bruce grumbles, continuing to type on the Batcomputer._

" _You kicked him out! How was he supposed to react? All of this is a cry for attention! He's going to wind up killing himself to get you to acknowledge him!"_

" _He's a good fighter and detective. He can handle himself."_

" _Not this time." Clark pauses before his eyes narrow and he grabs Bruce by the cowl that the Bat had pulled off earlier. "I don't have time to explain! If we don't hurry, he really will die!" With that, Clark soars off, with a protesting Bruce in tow. An hour later, the two return with another person in tow. Dick was in his Nightwing costume, but it was severely tattered. He was covered in blood, and thrashing in Bruce's hold._

" _NO! I could have saved them!" Dick sobs, thrashing harder as Bruce's grip tightens around the acrobat._

" _There's nothing you could have done…" Bruce tries to soothe as Clark lowers them to the ground._ " _Blüdhaven was flooded with radiation within seconds…you would have died."_

" _Then I would have died with them!" Dick cries, weakly punching at Bruce's chest. "They were all counting on me…and I failed…they're all dead because of me…" Alfred appears as if on cue and gasps at the sight of Dick. Bruce hauls his oldest son towards the infirmary as Alfred rushes ahead to get things prepared. Clark opens his mouth to speak, but Bruce quickly cuts him off._

" _Don't say it, Clark. Not a word." The Bat hisses harshly before he disappears into the infirmary. The Kryptonian sighs, running a hand through his hair before following after them to lend a hand if need be._

* * *

_It had been a week since the night Bruce and Clark brought Dick back and the eighteen year old hadn't uttered a word. He sat off to the side, watching Bruce spar with Jason blankly. Bruce got a brutal hit in, sending Jason flying off the mat._

" _You're going to have to do better than that. If you can't even block a simple kick, how can I trust you out on patrol?" Bruce snaps before storming off. He had been on edge ever since Dick returned. It was clear that the Bat was unnerved seeing his eldest son so broken. Jason sighs heavily, picking himself up off the cold damp floor and winces, holding his chest. One of his ribs was definitely bruised. What surprised him more than anything, was the fact that Dick was now standing on the mat, holding a hand out to him. Jason looks up at him, and hesitantly takes the offered hand._

" _Don't ever let your guard down. And try keeping your arms up higher to protect your chest. It's bad if you get the wind knocked out of you while fighting a bad guy." Dick states quietly before turning to walk away. "And you should ice your ribs and make sure to wrap them up tight with ace bandages." With that, he starts to walk away._

" _W-Wait!" Jason calls out, taking a step towards him. Dick pauses, glancing back at him. "Why are you helping me? I thought you hated me?"_

" _I never hated you. I just don't want you to get hurt."_

" _Oh…well…thanks…I guess…" Jason grumbles, looking away. "I'm not just some wuss, ya know." Dick smirks, starting to walk away again._

" _Alfred clearly still needs to work on your manners." Jason sticks his tongue out at Dick as he disappears up the stairs._

* * *

_The next week, the dark cloud that seemed to be looming over the entire manor seemed to dissipate. Strangely enough, the better Dick's mood seemed to be, the lighter the air felt in the manor. Jason was musing over the correlation at dinner when Dick's frigidity behavior caught his attention. Apparently it caught Bruce's as well. However, instead of asking the ex-bird about it; he merely waiting for his eldest to speak._

" _So…I've been talking to Roy…" Dick starts, poking at one of the peas on his plate. Bruce nods, urging him to continue. "And um…we were thinking about starting a team…" To this, Bruce raises an eyebrow._

" _A team?"_

" _Kind of like the Justice League…but smaller…so far, Roy, Kory, Raven, and a few others are on board…"_

" _Oh? And have you thought of a leader?" Dick starts fidgeting even more._

" _Yes." The ex-bird takes a deep breath, setting his fork down. "They want me to do it." Bruce nods, taking a sip of wine. "Well? What do you think?"_

" _Does it really matter what I think?"_

" _Do I really need to answer that question?"_

" _I think you would make an excellent leader." As soon as the words left the billionaire's mouth, the acrobat was out of his chair and bounding towards his adoptive father. Dick hugs him tightly, beaming happily before rushing over to Jason and hugging him as well. Jason twitches in the hold, squirming slightly._

" _Once we get the HQ set up, you two should come and visit! It could be like a housewarming party!" Dick suddenly whips out his phone, starting to dial. "Wally even said he could help out once and a while!" He scampers off, taking quickly on the phone; his dinner forgotten. Jason frowns, glancing at the half eaten plate._

" _Is he always this hyper?"_

" _You have no idea." Bruce states calmly, taking another sip of wine to hide his smile._


	29. Stalker Tim Part 1

Damian and Tim stare at Jason in shock. Sure, Dick had gotten into arguments with Bruce in front of them, but never to that degree. They had only heard stories about the infamous 'falling out' the two had, but it was a whole other thing to hear about the event from someone who had actually experienced it. Dick and Bruce never talked about it. No one else would either. The three freeze, hearing Alfred returning to the room with a still unconscious Dick in tow. Alfred lays Dick down on an empty bed and tucks him in before setting his sights on the other birds. Tim, Jason and Damian all look away in different directions, still sitting on their respective beds. The butler eyes them suspiciously before walking out of the room. The three watch Alfred leave before leaning towards each other again.

"Your turn, Stalker-Boy." Jason smirks, glancing over at Tim. "Though, I know I've already won."

"Cocky bastard." Tim grumbles, crossing his arms. "I've known him longer."

"Only if you count stalking as knowing." Jason snorts. Damian growls, tossing a pillow at Jason's head.

"Stop bragging and allow the rest of us to finish." Jason rolls his eyes, sitting back on his bed. He gestures towards Tim, signaling for him to continue.

"Unlike the rest of you; I was there at Haley's Circus that night…I saw the whole thing." Tim starts, leaning back his bed as well.

* * *

_It was an exciting night in Gotham. Haley's Circus was in town for the first time and everyone was buzzing in anticipation to see the show. Especially a five year old Tim Drake who happened to be sitting in the audience with his father on opening night. All of the other acts were astounding, but the toddler couldn't wait for the Flying Grayon's to enter center ring of the big top._

" _And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for!" The gruff voice of Haley resonates throughout the tent. "The only people on earth able to execute a quadruple somersault! To top off this amazing feat; they will perform all of their stunts without the safety of a net!" The crowd roars with excitement as the spotlight shines at the top of the trapeze tower. Three figures stood in red and gold leotards, waving to the crowd happily. "Introducing, Mary Grayson!" The female of the group, with long blonde hair, pulled back into a pony tail takes the trapeze and swings off of the tower gracefully as the crowd cheers. "And her husband, John Grayson!" An older muscular man with slicked back raven hair swings off as well. The two soar through the air as if weightless. They flip from bar to bar seamlessly. "And for the first time ever; their son, Dick Grayson!" A young, slender boy with short raven hair and sky blue eyes steps into the spotlight, beaming at the crowd. His father flies towards him; holding onto the bar with his legs. Dick jumps off the tower, and links arms with his father. The three flip and twist through the air, earning cheers from the audience._

" _Daddy! They're so cool!" Tim cheers happily, beaming up at his father. Jack Drake chuckles, ruffling his son's hair. They watch as the trio prepare for the finale. Dick was back on the tower as John held onto Mary's legs. The two swing towards the tower as Mary reaches out for their son. Just as the boy was about to jump, a loud snap caused the audience to gasp in shock. Dick's eyes widen in horror as the rope holding the trapeze up snaps, causing the two acrobats to plummet to their deaths. There was a sickening crunch of the two bodies hitting the ground before the screaming started. The audience gets up, starting to run out of the tent as the boy at the top of the trapeze tower screams out for his parents in anguish. The thing that stuck with Tim the most as his father was rushing him out of the tent was that broken look on the young boys face. He knew that Dick Grayson's life would never be the same._

* * *

_Since that fateful night at Haley's Circus, Tim had been collecting newspaper clippings about the orphaned acrobat. To his surprise; the boy was only in the orphanage for a month before Bruce Wayne adopted him. Tim cocks his head to the side, staring at the picture of the billionaire standing next to the frightened looking boy. Jack Drake walks into the living room, frowning at the amount of newspaper articles that littered the floor._

" _Tim. What are you doing?" Tim holds up the photo to his father._

" _He was adopted." Jack takes the picture, his eyebrows knitting in confusion._

" _Who?"_

" _That boy from the circus!" Jack frowns, crumbling the picture up, and tossing it in the trash can._

" _It's best if you try to forget him."_

" _But he looked so sad! He has a family now!"_

" _That's great Timmy. Now let's move on and try to forget about that night. Come on. Dinner's ready." Jack walks out of the room as Tim frowns. He runs to the trashcan once he was sure his father was out of earshot and snatches the discarded picture and shoves it in his pocket before scampering after his father._

* * *

_Four years later, Tim's eyebrows furrow in concentration as he looks through his 'evidence' book. It contained hundreds of candid pictures of the acrobat in all kinds of situations. Something just didn't add up. How could someone seem so content when their parents were killed in front of him? Why did he always have injuries when he wasn't in any sports? There was no way he was that clumsy. He was an acrobat! Tim flips through the book, coming to the pictures of Dick and Bruce together. That had become very close, very fast. Two months after the newly adopted orphan had moved in with the billionaire, they were suddenly inseparable. They seemed like actual father and son. Tim sighs heavily, snapping the book shut. Perhaps he should actually introduce himself to Dick Grayson._

* * *

_Tim smirks, seeing Dick eating ice cream by himself in the park. He was probably waiting for one of his friends to arrive; so it was the perfect time to introduce himself. Tim approaches the distracted teen hesitantly, unsure as to how he would be received. Dick glances over at him and blinks at Tim's anxious behavior._

" _No need to be so nervous. I don't bite." Dick grins as Tim seems to relax. "Need help with homework or something?"_

" _Um…not exactly…I was actually thinking about joining the Mathletes and wanted to see if you could help? Since you're the Captian and all…" Dick beams, suddenly forgetting about his ice cream._

" _Sure! What's your name?"_

" _Tim Drake."_

" _Nice to meet you!" Dick holds his hand out, flinging ice cream everywhere. He glances back at a girl shrieks from behind him. She had chocolate splattered all over her and was glaring darkly at Dick. The acrobat pales, quickly tossing the cone into the trash can as he jumps up. "I'm so sorry! I can't believe I missed such a beautiful woman standing behind me!" The girl instantly flushes, all anger gone._

" _O-Oh…well…it's ok…"_

" _I'll make it up to you! How about I meet you here tomorrow, same time, and I'll take you shopping for a new dress? Maybe we can get some ice cream after?" The girl's blush darkens as she nods before scampering off, giggling to her friends. Tim just stares at him at shock. Dick Grayson was amazing. It seemed as though he could get out of any situation._

" _How did you do that?!" Tim exclaims as Dick turns back to him, cocking his head to the side._

" _Do what?" The acrobat asks innocently. Yes. He made the right decision to idolize this man._


	30. Stalker Tim Part 2

_Tim and Dick had been friends for several months now, but he had still never been over to Wayne Manor. Dick kept saying that Bruce didn't like visitors, but he didn't seem like the type to let that bother him. Tim sighs, setting his camera to the side. Sure, some people may think that waiting in the bushes of Wayne Manor was a bit much, but he was trying to observe Dick at his most candid; at home. He brings his camera back up when he hears a familiar laugh and focuses on the front door. Dick walks out basketball shorts and a tank top with his hair ruffled, dragging Bruce out behind him with a football in his hand._

" _Come on, Bruce. You have to get some sunshine once and a while! People are going to think you're a vampire!" Dick chimes, leading his adoptive father to the grassy patch on their front yard._

" _People are not going to think I'm a vampire."_

" _Come on! I finished all of my homework and Wally and Roy are busy." Bruce sighs, relenting._

" _Alright…but we can't play football with just the two of us."_

" _Why not? We can just take turns and try to get around each other. This should be fun!" Dick beams, crouching down once they were in position. "You can go first. Tackling is allowed, by the way." He smirks as Bruce rushes forward, spinning around the boy. Dick tries to trip the billionaire, but he jumps out of the way. Just when he thought he was in the clear, Bruce's eyes widen as Dick lands on his shoulders. He grunts from effort before toppling over to the ground. Dick laughs triumphantly as Bruce chuckles as well._

" _Alfred is going to kill us if we get grass stains on our clothes." Bruce states, looking at the bright green stains on the knees of his slacks._

" _Oops." Dicks mumbles innocently. Bruce cracks a rare smile and ruffles his son's hair._

" _It's alright…I'll just throw this pair out and he'll never know."_

" _Awesome!" Dick beams, his good mood instantly returned. He picks up the football that Bruce had let go of during the fall. "My turn! Catch me if you can, Dad!" They both suddenly freeze, staring at each other in shock. Dick smiles warmly, causing Bruce to relax and smile himself. The boy then runs off with the billionaire chasing after him. Tim blinks, taking the camera away from his face again. That was the first time he saw the billionaire actually smile. He had definitely caught an important moment and would be sure to make a note of it once he got home._

* * *

_Tim sighs, flipping through the channels on TV. He finished his homework early, as usual, and was now merely waiting for his father to come home from gambling yet again. He stops, seeing a report on Batman and Robin. A citizen caught Robin on video during a fight against Two Face. On the footage, Robin does a quadruple somersault before landing on top of the villain's shoulders, giggling happily. Tim's eyes widen in shock; the remote slips from his fingers, clanking onto the floor. He had only seen three people ever pull that move off. Two of them were dead. That meant that the Boy Wonder was none other than Dick Grayson! Tim shoots up from the sofa in joy, running over to his log of important findings. This was a huge turn of events! With Dick being Robin, that meant that Bruce Wayne was Batman! He would write down his findings, and keep it to himself until the time came. This was a delicate process. He couldn't just approach them about it. So, he would wait and watch until the perfect moment._

* * *

_It had been several years, and Dick had become more distant. He could tell that things were strained between the acrobat and Bruce, but he couldn't figure out what. Things had been going so well, then one day; Dick came to school in a sling and in a foul mood. One thing that he had come to learn about Dick was that he never held grudges. What could have been so bad that left him in such a sour state? He sits in the park, on his usual spot, playing a game on his phone. His phone rings, causing him to jump. Tim answers it, curious as to why Dick was calling him._

" _Dick? Is everything alright?"_

" _No…I'm leaving Gotham." Tim pales at the solemn tone in his friend's voice._

" _What? Why?!"_

" _I can't really talk about it. But we can still talk. I'm moving to Bludhaven."_

" _O-Oh….alright then…just be careful…I hear that city is dangerous." Dick scoffs at the comment._

" _I'll be fine…thank you, though…and Tim…take care of yourself." The phone goes dead and Tim blinks, staring at the device. He was leaving? Just like that? What could have possibly happened?_

* * *

_A new Robin emerged not long after Dick left town. There was no mistaking it. This one was younger, and much more violent. How Bruce dealt with this boy, Tim would never understand. It was only four months after Dick left before Bludhaven was destroyed. When Tim read about it in the paper, he nearly had a heart attack until Dick texted him, letting him know that he was alright. It was now a few more years later, and Dick had moved yet again, to Jump City. The Titans popped up, and Tim knew that it was the acrobat's doing. What was the most notable was the fact that Jason Todd, new ward of Bruce Wayne, was killed. It was also a known fact that Robin had been murdered by Joker. It didn't take him long to connect the dots. The reason why Tim was on his way to Wayne Manor at the moment was because of Batman's increasing violent behavior. He nearly killed Joker. If Nightwing hadn't shown up when he did, who knows what would have happened. Tim knocks on the door, not surprised when Alfred answers the door, eyeing him curiously._

" _May I help you?"_

" _Yes…actually, I was hoping to talk to Mr. Wayne."_

" _Master Bruce is not taking any appointments today."_

" _It's rather important, actually…it seems as though you have a bat problem." Tim states, hoping the butler would catch on. Alfred's eyes instantly widen before he shows the boy in, leading him to the study._

" _Master Bruce will be in shortly." Alfred states before walking out. Not even a minute later, the billionaire walks in, shutting the door behind him. He turns a glare towards the boy, crossing his arms._

" _What do you want?"_

" _I want in. You've lost control as of late and Dick isn't around to help you through this. You're going to wind up killing someone, and you will never forgive yourself for it." Bruce's eyebrows shoot up in shock, not expecting him to know so much. "I have known your identity for quite some time. All I want is the opportunity to prove to myself."_

" _You have a lot of work ahead of you, if I decide to train you."_

" _I fully understand that." Tim states determinedly. Bruce nods slowly, letting his arms drop to his side._

" _Let's see what you can do."_

* * *

"Ugh. Boring! The last one didn't even have Dick in it!" Jason interrupts, crossing his arms. "This is all about how _you_  became Robin."

"You're so impatient! I was getting to the part where Dick and I really bonded!" Tim glowers over at him.

"Spoken like a true stalker."

"Shut up! I'm not a stalker!"

"Drake, we all know of your antics. Your memories have only proven that." Damian grumbles. "I have been the closest to Grayson as of late."

"It's not your turn yet, Little Demon." Jason smirks at the glare he receives from the youngest bird. "I didn't get to finish my story either. Tim just had to get his little creeper story in that he couldn't wait." Jason snickers as the hacker throws a pillow at him, since it was the closest thing he could grab.

"Asshole."

"My turn again." Jason demands, grinning at Tim's grumpy expression.

* * *

_Dick cries out in pain, getting thrown back from an explosion. He had been chasing after Red Hood, trying to capture him, but the villain threw a grenade at him. Nightwing tried to dodge it, but there was not enough room on the roof. Red Hood snickers, walking over to the fallen bird. He kicks Dick in the ribs with his steel toed boot, causing him to grunt in pain._

" _Looks like you weren't fast enough this time, Dickie Bird." Red Hood sneers. Dick's eyes instantly shoot up to him and he pales._

" _J-Jason?" The villain removes his red helmet, smirking down at his older brother. "You're…alive?" Dick breathes, trying to sit up. Jason kicks him back to the ground, glaring irritatedly._

" _Oh,_ _ **now**_ _you care."_

" _I looked everywhere for you when I heard that Joker had taken you!" Dick winces, coughing up blood. "I've always cared…please…Jay, just come home…"_

" _No. Bruce chose the Joker over me…he chose his self-righteousness over one of his own!"_

" _No, he didn't. If he killed Joker, he would have lost himself…"_

" _At least that lunatic would be dead!" Jason rages as Dick stumbles to his feet._

" _That wouldn't solve anything, Jay…you know that." Dick makes his way over to him, limping slightly. "Please…just come home…"_

" _Get away from me!" Jason growls, taking a step back, but Dick makes his way closer, and pulls him into a hug._

" _I'm so glad you're alive." Dick whispers before going limp. Jason's eyes widen as he catches his brother, noting the large gash on Dick's back. He sighs heavily, scooping him up. Figures…Dick always won one way or another. They were both going home after all._

**Author's Note:**

> So, I finally got an account!! XD so very excited! I'm going to move all of my works here, starting with the most popular. I'm still going to update on FF so that there isn't an uprising from my long ass hiatus. Once I'm all caught up here, I'm going to update on here first. Oh! And currently working on a ROG fic, so updating my newer chapters might take a bit T.T


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